Heavy metals concentrations in fish and shellfish from eastern Mediterranean Sea: Consumption advisories

Overview

Copat and colleagues measured arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead, manganese, nickel, vanadium, and zinc in edible tissues from fish and sand-dwelling mussel sold through the Catania fish market. The study reports concentrations in mg/kg w.w. and then models intake, THQ, cancer risk, and consumption limits. Arsenic was measured as total/unspecified arsenic (As); the paper’s inorganic-arsenic risk calculations assume 3% of total arsenic and are not measured inorganic arsenic (iAs) concentrations.

Key numbers

The sampled species were Engraulis encrasicolus (n = 30), Trachurus trachurus (n = 30), Scomber scombrus (n = 30), Mullus barbatus (n = 30), Arnoglossus laterna (n = 30), and Donax trunculus with 30 analyzed aliquots from a homogenized 250 g edible-part sample.

Table 2 reports mean concentrations and standard deviations as mg/kg w.w.:

Method detection limits were reported as mg/kg w.w.: As 0.013, cadmium (Cd) 0.0003, chromium (Cr) 0.003, lead (Pb) 0.0001, Mn 0.055, nickel (Ni) 0.007, V 0.002, and Zn 0.109. Quantification limits were reported as mg/kg w.w.: As 0.13, Cd 0.003, Cr 0.03, Pb 0.001, Mn 0.55, Ni 0.07, V 0.02, and Zn 1.09.

For Table 3 intake modeling, the authors assumed inorganic As was 3% of total As. Under that assumption, child EDIm for As was 2.357 for M. barbatus, compared with the table’s JECFA tolerable intake value 2.143; the same table reports adult EDIm for As in M. barbatus as 1.073.

Table 5 reports maximum allowable fish consumption rates for arsenic, again using the 3% inorganic-As assumption: adult/child CRmw values were 3.74/1.70 meals/week for E. encrasicolus, 3.99/1.82 for T. trachurus, 5.89/2.68 for S. scombrus, 1.96/0.89 for M. barbatus, 6.82/3.10 for A. laterna, and 13.4/6.55 for D. trunculus. All Cd, Cr, Mn, Ni, V, and Zn CRmw entries were >14 meals/week.

Methods (brief)

Fish and shellfish were purchased during February-March 2012 from local fishermen in the Catania fish market. For fish, two 0.5 g aliquots of muscle tissue were analyzed from each individual; for D. trunculus, the edible part was homogenized as a 250 g sample and 30 aliquots of 0.5 g were analyzed. Samples were microwave-mineralized in HNO3/H2O2 and quantified by ICP-MS Elan-DRC-e (Perkin-Elmer). Lake Superior fish 1946 NIST was used for validation where certified values were available; other analytes were validated by spiking real samples. Arsenic and chromium were not speciated.

Implications

This source contributes wet-weight edible-fish and shellfish occurrence data for Mediterranean seafood sold in Sicily. It is routeable to marine fish and shellfish rows, but arsenic values should remain total/unspecified As in occurrence evidence because the inorganic-As entries are risk-model assumptions, not measured speciation. The shellfish row is based on a homogenized D. trunculus aliquot set rather than independent individual shellfish specimens.

Update history

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