Scientific Opinion on the Risk for Public Health Related to the Presence of Mercury and Methylmercury in Food

Summary

The EFSA CONTAM Panel Scientific Opinion on Mercury and Methylmercury in Food (December 2012, EFSA Journal 2012;10(12):2985) re-evaluated the prior JECFA tolerable weekly intakes for inorganic mercury (4 µg/kg b.w./week) and methylmercury (1.6 µg/kg b.w./week) in light of new epidemiological evidence. The Panel maintained the inorganic mercury TWI at 4 µg/kg b.w./week, expressed as Hg, but lowered the methylmercury TWI to 1.3 µg/kg b.w./week, expressed as Hg. The methylmercury revision was driven by Faroe Islands and Seychelles cohort data, with adjustment for the protective n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid coefficients in fish. Mean dietary methylmercury exposure across European age groups does not exceed the TWI except for toddlers and other children in some surveys; 95th-percentile dietary exposure is close to or above the TWI for all age groups. High fish consumers can substantially exceed the TWI.

Key numbers

Wiki pages updated on ingest

• Mercury
• EFSA — Inorganic Mercury Tolerable Weekly Intake (4 µg/kg b.w./week)
• EFSA — Methylmercury Tolerable Weekly Intake (1.3 µg/kg b.w./week)

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