To investigate the residual levels of quinolone antibiotics in aquaculture products from a city in East China and assess their health risks to residents via dietary intake.

From 2023 to 2025, a total of 768 aquaculture products were randomly collected from aquaculture farms of the city. The residues of 6 kinds of quinolone antibiotics, including enrofloxacin, ciprofloxacin and ofloxacin, etc, were determined by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. A point assessment model was employed to estimate the daily exposure doses for different age groups, and the hazard quotient method was applied for dietary risks.

The 3 kinds of antibiotics were detected, including enrofloxacin, ciprofloxacin and ofloxacin, with an overall detection rate of 20.44% and an exceedance rate of 1.69%. Enrofloxacin showed the highest rate (19.01%), with residue concentrations ranging from 1.03 μg/kg to 1177.00 μg/kg. Dietary risk assessment indicated that under both average and maximum residue concentration exposure scenarios, the hazard quotients for all age groups were below 1.

The dietary health risks posed by quinolone antibiotic residues in aquaculture products from the city to various age groups are low. However, continuous efforts should be made to strengthen the supervision of drug use during aquaculture practices, so as to ensure that the dietary risks to residents remain at acceptable levels.