title: Mercury and methylmercury concentrations in Mediterranean seafood and surface sediments, intake evaluation and risk for consumers.
abstract: Total mercury and methylmercury concentrations were measured in sediments and marine organisms from the Taranto Gulf to understand their distribution and partitioning. Sediment concentrations ranged from 0.036 to 7.730 mg/kg (mean: 2.777 mg/kg d.w.) and from 1 to 40 μg/kg (mean: 11 μg/kg d.w.) for total mercury (THg) and methylmercury (Me-Hg), respectively. In mollusks THg ranged from n.d. to 1870 μg/kg d.w. while in fish from 324 to 1740 μg/kg d.w. Me-Hg concentrations in fish ranged from 190 to 1040 μg/kg d.w. and from n.d. to 1321 μg/kg d.w. in mollusks. THg exceeded the maximum level fixed by the European Commission (0.5 mg/kg w.w.) only in gastropod Hexaplex t. The calculated weekly intake was in many cases over the Provisional Tolerable Weekly Intake established by EFSA for all edible species. These results seem to indicate that dietary consumption of this seafood implicates an appreciable risk for human health.
authors.affiliation: C.N.R. - Institute for Coastal Marine Environment, Taranto Section, via Roma 3, 74100 Taranto, Italy. lucia.spada@iamc.cnr.it
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Spada
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Annicchiarico
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Cardellicchio
authors.forename: Santina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Giandomenico
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Di Leo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005399:Fishes; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis*; D059022:Food Safety; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D008522:Mediterranean Sea; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis*; D008767:Methylmercury Compounds / Q000032:analysis*; D008974:Mollusca / Q000737:chemistry; D018570:Risk Assessment; D017747:Seafood; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D008767:Methylmercury Compounds; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D008628:Mercury