Aquat Toxicol 2026 Apr 29;296:107844. doi: 10.1016/j.aquatox.2026.107844.

Characterizing tissue-specific accumulation dynamics and assessing healthy risk of organic insecticides in sea cucumbers based on a multicompartmental toxicokinetic model.

???displayArticle.abstract???
Organophosphate and organochlorine insecticides have attracted attention owing to their chronic toxicity, environmental persistence, and bioaccumulation potential. Their excessive and illegal use has led to food safety risks in sea cucumbers "from culture-to-table" supply chains, posing a challenge to the sea cucumber aquaculture industry. Here, we selected an economically and ecologically important echinoderm, the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus, as a model organism. The organophosphate insecticide, chlorpyrifos, and two organochlorine insecticides, endosulfan and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), were selected as target contaminants for exposure experiments at different concentrations. The tested values and first-order kinetics showed that the organic insecticides exhibited significant tissue-specific accumulation in sea cucumbers, with the respiratory tree and digestive tract showing high sensitivities, and their BCF reached up to 2544.5 and 2869.4 L·kg-1 respectively. Moreover, the accumulation trends varied across tissues depending on the exposure concentration. Chlorpyrifos and endosulfan would not be concerning for human health in aquaculture environments after 21 days of depuration, as their %ADI values were 0.45 and 0.17, when concentrations remained under 2 μg·L⁻¹. DDT exhibited particularly high accumulation and persistence, with the residue level and dietary intake risk exceeding limits, demonstrating an unacceptable food safety risk. Based on the anatomical structure of sea cucumbers and the principle of passive diffusion, we optimized the existing kinetic models and developed a multicompartmental toxicokinetic model applicable to organic insecticides in sea cucumbers. This model could be used to predict tissue-specific organic insecticide concentrations under natural environmental conditions. Our findings also provide a basis for ecological and human dietary risk assessment of organic insecticides in sea cucumber aquaculture, thereby promoting the sea cucumber industry's healthy and sustainable development.

???displayArticle.pubmedLink??? 42070342
???displayArticle.link??? Aquat Toxicol