Mercury concentrations in lean fish from the Western Mediterranean Sea: Dietary exposure and risk assessment in the population of the Balearic Islands

Abstract

The present study reports total mercury (THg) and methylmercury (MeHg) concentrations in 32 different lean fish species from the Western Mediterranean Sea, with a special focus on the Balearic Islands. The concentrations of THg ranged between 0.05mg/kg ww and 3.1mg/kg ww (mean 0.41mg/kg ww). A considerable number of the most frequently fish species consumed by the Spanish population exceed the maximum levels proposed by the European legislation when they originate from the Mediterranean Sea, such as dusky grouper (100% of the examined specimens), common dentex (65%), conger (45%), common sole (38%), hake (26%) and angler (15%), among others. The estimated weekly intakes (EWI) in children (7-12 years of age) and adults from the Spanish population (2.7µg/kg bw and 2.1µg/kg bw, respectively) for population only consuming Mediterranean fish were below the provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) of THg established by EFSA in 2012, 4µg/kg bw. However, the equivalent estimations for methylmercury, involving PTWI of 1.3µg/kg bw, were two times higher in children and above 50% in adults. For hake, sole, angler and dusky grouper, the most frequently consumed fish, the estimated weekly intakes in both children and adults were below the maximum levels accepted. These intakes correspond to maximum potential estimations because fish from non-Mediterranean origin is often consumed by the Spanish population including the one from the Balearic Islands.

Drivers of the accumulation of mercury and organochlorine pollutants in Mediterranean lean fish and dietary significance

“…Common dentex were found to have mean Total Hg concentrations of 0.78 μg/g ww which was lower than in a previous study in the western Mediterranean, 0.99 μg/g ww, and in the Egyptian coast, 1.1 μg/g ww (Llull et al, 2017).…”

“…The mean THg concentrations of the angler specimens analysed in the present study (1.9 μg/g ww) were much higher than those from the Italian coast (mean of 0.13 μg/g ww; Brambilla et al, 2013) and even previous studies near the Balearic Islands (0.74 μg/g ww; Llull et al, 2017).…”

“…In this sense, we performed two preliminary studies on the intake of these compounds, one on Hg in Mediterranean lean fish and seafood (Llull et al, 2017) and another on a diet evaluation of the population from Menorca (Junqué et al, 2017). Now, an integrated assessment of lean fish species of commercial value as sources of both Hg and organochlorine compounds in islander populations is reported.…”

Dietary Intake of Cadmium, Lead and Mercury and Its Association with Bone Health in Healthy Premenopausal Women

“…Primary dietary sources of cadmium in Spain are said to be cereals and fish [ 36 ], which was confirmed by our observations. Analogous results were observed for the dietary exposure of mercury—fish was the primary dietary source [ 36 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 ]. We observed a large contribution of cereals to total dietary lead exposure in two of the three considered heavy metals, together with fish and meat; this result supports previous investigations on the contribution of cereals to the dietary exposure of lead in Spain [ 69 ].…”

Mercury Hair Concentration among Primary School Children in Malaysia

“…On the other hand, local studies suggested that predatory fish from the demersal zone and higher marine trophic level induced a greater mercury burden [ 5 , 29 ]. This is to be expected since bioaccumulation of mercury concentrations in fish would have happened at higher trophic levels [ 51 , 52 , 53 ].…”