Abstract: Food safety is more and more important to human being, while Lateolabrax japonicus is an important mariculture fish in southeastern seas of China. In the present study, we determined concentrations of 16 EPA priority PAH in seawater, liver of Lateolabrax japonicus using GC/MS techniques. The results showed that: (1) Bioconcentration factor (BCF) values in the liver are more than 500, increasing with the increase of PAHs’ molecular weights; so, PAH pollution is a threat to seafood security. (2) PAH with higher molecular weight is more easily depurated than the ones with lower molecular weight; (3)Dynamic equation is given to describe the depuration course. t1/2 of the higher molecular weight PAH component are 1.7 to 2.5 days, and t1/2 of the lower molecular weight PAH component are 3.4 to 24 days. It shows that it is effective to keep fish in clean seawater for seafood security.

Key words: PAH, bioconcentration factor (BCF), metabolism, Western Xiamen Sea, Lateolabrax japonicus, seafood security