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Fish and fish products as risk factors of mercury exposure

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Overview

This study monitored total mercury in fish and fish products from retail in Eastern Slovakia and fish from the Ruzin water reservoir.

Key numbers

Source units are mg/kg.

  • Total fish and fish-product samples: 384.
  • Samples above the European Commission mercury maximum level: 194 samples, 50.52% of all samples (Table 3, Results section; the abstract reports 184, a typo).
  • Mercury concentrations ranged from 0.08942 to 6.552.
  • Mean mercury concentration: 1.17265 (reported by the authors as 1.2 ± 1.2 in narrative; Table 3 reports SD 1.22670).
  • Median mercury concentration: 0.57220 (reported as 0.6 in narrative).
  • The highest concentration (6.552) was in muscle of asp (Leuciscus aspius) from the Ružín water reservoir, more than 13 times the 0.5 mg/kg comparison level.
  • The highest concentration among retail samples was 3.722 in King mackerel (Scomberomorus cavalla).

Methods

Total mercury was measured using an AMA 254 atomic absorption mercury analyzer. The paper reports LOQ 0.002 mg/kg and validation uncertainty bands across mercury concentration ranges.

Implications

The source supports fish/seafood total-mercury surveillance context for Slovakia. The dataset combines retail fish/products and reservoir fish, so local reservoir findings should not be pooled blindly with retail seafood. The reservoir samples (10 freshwater species from the Ružín reservoir, draining historic mining areas) drive the dataset’s high-end values; the retail samples cover marine fish and processed fish products. The authors’ consumer-safety conclusion echoes FDA/EPA advisories (citing refs 8, 47, 48) calling out shark, swordfish, and king mackerel as categories of concern for children, women of childbearing age, pregnant women, and nursing mothers — but shark and swordfish were not measured in this study; only king mackerel was. Direct evidence from this paper applies to freshwater fish and the measured retail species, not shark or swordfish.

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