Variation of total and speciated arsenic in commonly consumed fish and seafood

Overview

Schoof and Yager reviewed total arsenic and speciated arsenic data for commonly consumed fish and seafood. The review summarizes total arsenic (Astot) and inorganic arsenic (Asi) on a wet-weight basis for freshwater finfish, anadromous fish, marine fish, crustaceans, and molluscs. The paper also separately summarizes DMA and MMA, so those organic arsenic species must not be collapsed into inorganic arsenic.

Key numbers

The abstract reports mean inorganic arsenic concentrations of approximately 10 to 20 ng/g wet weight (ww) in freshwater, anadromous, and marine fish, and 40 to 50 ng/g ww in crustaceans and molluscs. It also reports that MMA was seldom detected, while DMA averaged 10 ng/g ww in freshwater fish and 45 to 95 ng/g ww in anadromous fish, marine fish, crustaceans, and molluscs. At the 75th percentile of the dataset, the paper reports inorganic arsenic as 2-3% of total arsenic in anadromous/estuarine/marine fish and crustaceans/molluscs, and 10% of total arsenic in freshwater fish.

Table 3 summarizes total arsenic and inorganic arsenic in ng/g, ww.

Table 3 also reports all-sample 75th percentile values for total arsenic (tAs) / inorganic arsenic (iAs) / iAs percent of total: freshwater finfish 409 / 36 / 10; anadromous fish 956 / 10 / 2.0; marine fish 4,359 / 26 / 1.6; crustaceans 12,000 / 57 / 2.0; and molluscs 3,094 / 68 / 2.7. The all-sample 90th percentile values are freshwater finfish 558 / 43 / 16; anadromous fish 1,235 / 18 / 2.7; marine fish 7,948 / 62 / 2.8; crustaceans 26,222 / 97 / 5.3; and molluscs 3,740 / 132 / 4.3.

Table 4 summarizes organic arsenic species in ng/g ww, as As. DMA means were freshwater finfish 10.3, anadromous fish 95.5, marine fish 79.9, crustaceans 56, and molluscs 45. MMA means were freshwater finfish 0.9, anadromous fish 40.4, marine fish 4.6, crustaceans 1.8, and molluscs 15.4.

Methods (brief)

The review assembled total arsenic and arsenic-speciation data from 20 published studies and grouped seafood by habitat and product type. The authors also used U.S. seafood consumption information from USEPA based on USDA CSFII 1994-1996 and 1998 data, including a 17.5 g/day freshwater and estuarine fish consumption value used in arsenic ambient-water-quality-criterion calculations. Table 3 includes both all samples and raw samples only; cooked samples and paired raw/cooked results are identified in the group counts.

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