Overview
Bushanati measured mercury, lead, cadmium, zinc, copper and iron by atomic absorption (cold vapor for mercury) in five canned tuna products bought in Derna, Libya, in 2023, alongside pH, salinity, moisture, protein and bacterial counts. Lead and cadmium were very low and mercury was well under the 1.0 µg/g limit cited. Arsenic was not measured.
Key numbers
- Mercury: 0.0192 to 0.0387 µg/g (Table 3, p. 28); the abstract and text give 0.192 to 0.387, a tenfold conflict.
- Lead: 0.005 to 0.008 µg/g (Table 3, p. 28).
- Cadmium: 0.0001 to 0.0055 µg/g (Table 3, p. 28).
Methods (brief)
About 0.5 g of homogenized tuna was digested in nitric acid and analyzed by flame AAS for lead, cadmium, zinc, copper and iron and by cold vapor AAS for mercury. No detection limits, reference materials or recoveries are reported.
Evidence Fitness
Five products with one value each and no QA. The mercury table and abstract disagree by a factor of ten, and zinc and iron are implausibly low for tuna, so the absolute values are uncertain. Direct but weak evidence for tinned-fish.