Overview
A short conference proceedings paper from the Agricultural University of Tirana measured cadmium and chromium in the muscle of 44 European hake bought in summer 2020, split into small and large fish. Large fish had significantly more cadmium than small fish. Lead, arsenic and mercury were not measured.
Key numbers
- Cadmium: small fish 0.0052 (SD 0.00737), large fish 0.0432 (SD 0.04585) mg/kg wet weight, p = 0.001 (Table 1).
- Chromium: small fish 0.0340 (SD 0.01736), large fish 0.0585 (SD 0.15977) mg/kg wet weight (Table 1).
Methods (brief)
Muscle was homogenized, dried and digested with nitric and sulfuric acid. The abstract names atomic absorption spectrometry while the methods name an ICP-OES instrument. No detection limits, reference materials or recoveries are reported.
Evidence Fitness
A conference proceedings paper (peer review by the organizing committee) with internal contradictions: the abstract says large-fish cadmium exceeded the EU limit, while the text and Table 1 (0.0432 mg/kg against 0.050 mg/kg) say it did not; the methods also mention red mullet and Durres fishermen. The table means are usable as printed for hake as sold, but with low confidence.
Related evidence
Update history
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