Survey of total mercury in total diet food composites and an estimation of the dietary intake of mercury by adults and children from two Canadian cities, 1998-2000.
Total mercury was measured in 259 total diet food composites from two Canadian cities. Levels were generally low, with 46% of the composites having concentrations below the limit of detection, which ranged from 0.026 to 0.506 ng g(-1). The fish category contained the highest mercury concentrations, which averaged 67 ng g(-1) and ranged from 24 to 148 ng g(-1). All composites were below the Canadian guideline for total mercury in fish of 0.5 ppm. Dietary intakes of mercury averaged 0.022 microg kg(-1) body weight/day (microg kg(-1) day(-1)), and ranged from 0.012 microg kg(-1) day(-1) for females over 65 years old to 0.062 microg kg(-1) day(-1) for 0-1-month-old infants. For fish consumers, fish contributed to more than half of the ingested mercury. All intakes were well below Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives Provisional Tolerable Weekly Intakes, expressed on a daily basis, of 0.71 microg kg(-1) day(-1) total mercury and 0.47 microg kg(-1) day(-1) methyl mercury, and also below a recent Health Canada recommended maximum methyl mercury intake of 0.2 microg kg(-1) day(-1) for children and women of child-bearing age.
Dabeka
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Health Canada, Health Products and Food Branch, Bureau of Chemical Safety, Food Research Division, Ottawa, ON, Canada. Bob_Dabeka@hc-sc.gc.ca
McKenzie
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AD
Bradley
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D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002170:Canada; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004032:Diet; D005260:Female; D005396:Fish Products; D005502:Food; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008628:Mercury / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000032:analysis*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011786:Quality Control
D008628:Mercury