Overview
Ulusoy measured cadmium, lead, total mercury, and total arsenic in canned tuna purchased from supermarkets in 36 countries. The study used ICP-MS and reported country-of-purchase means for cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), total arsenic (As), and a calculated inorganic-arsenic surrogate. Inorganic arsenic was not directly measured; it was estimated as 3% of total As for the risk calculations.
Key numbers
Table 6 reports developed/developing-country summaries in µg/g ww:
| Metal or calculated surrogate | Developed countries, mean +/- SD | Developing countries, mean +/- SD | Developed EDI, µg/kg bw/day | Developing EDI, µg/kg bw/day | PTDI, µg/day/kg body weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| cadmium (Cd) | 0.022 +/- 0.01 | 0.017 +/- 0.01 | 0.037 | 0.030 | 1.17 |
| lead (Pb) | 0.12 +/- 0.15 | 0.10 +/- 0.20 | 0.197 | 0.179 | 3.57 |
| total mercury (tHg) | 0.09 +/- 0.09 | 0.13 +/- 0.22 | 0.156 | 0.220 | 0.19 |
| calculated inorganic arsenic (iAs), 3% of total arsenic (tAs) | 0.03 +/- 0.01 | 0.02 +/- 0.01 | 0.047 | 0.042 | 0.3 |
Tables 4-5 report country-level concentration means. Selected high or source-highlighted values include:
| Country of purchase | Cd, µg/g ww | Pb, µg/g ww | tHg, µg/g ww | tAs, µg/g ww | calculated iAs, µg/g ww |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | 0.01 +/- 0.07 | 0.64 +/- 0.01 | 0.04 +/- 0.01 | 1.28 +/- 0.00 | 0.04 +/- 0.00 |
| Latvian | 0.02 +/- 0.00 | 0.06 +/- 0.01 | 0.22 +/- 0.01 | 2.55 +/- 0.07 | 0.07 +/- 0.07 |
| Malta | 0.02 +/- 0.00 | 0.20 +/- 0.01 | 0.51 +/- 0.00 | 0.93 +/- 0.01 | 0.03 +/- 0.01 |
| Tunisia | 0.00 +/- 0.06 | 0.14 +/- 0.01 | 0.95 +/- 0.05 | 1.85 +/- 0.05 | 0.06 +/- 0.05 |
| Brazil | 0.02 +/- 0.01 | 0.01 +/- 0.01 | 0.11 +/- 0.01 | 1.34 +/- 0.01 | 0.04 +/- 0.01 |
| Russia | 0.02 +/- 0.01 | 0.83 +/- 0.00 | 0.03 +/- 0.00 | 0.80 +/- 0.01 | 0.02 +/- 0.01 |
| Saudi Arabia | 0.01 +/- 0.00 | 0.29 +/- 0.01 | 0.05 +/- 0.00 | 0.87 +/- 0.00 | 0.03 +/- 0.00 |
The results section states that Cd and Hg values were below the cited limit values in all samples, and that only Pb concentrations were found above limit values in samples purchased from England, Saudi Arabia, and Russia. The abstract states that Hg THQ values were above the source’s safe-limit criterion for higher-frequency consumers and that calculated inorganic arsenic (iAs) TCR indicated carcinogenic risk when consuming more than one canned-tuna meal per week.
Methods (brief)
Canned tuna samples were randomly purchased from supermarket chains in Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, and Oceania. The liquid medium was poured off before digestion. Approximately 0.5 g sample was digested with 7 mL 65% nitric acid and 1 mL 30% hydrogen peroxide in a Milestone Ethos D microwave system, then diluted to 50 mL. As, Cd, Pb, and Hg were measured by Perkin Elmer NexION 1000 ICP-MS. Certified reference material ERM-CE278k was analyzed, with recoveries of 102.67% for Cd, 108.39% for Pb, 108.45% for Hg, and 98.17% for As.
Implications
This source contributes broad global occurrence data for canned tuna. It is useful for canned-fish and predatory-marine-fish routing, but the arsenic and mercury species must stay constrained: arsenic concentration values are total As, and mercury concentration values are total Hg. The paper’s calculated iAs and risk outputs are source assumptions, not direct inorganic-arsenic measurements.
Update history
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