title: Shark fin, a symbol of wealth and good fortune may pose health risks: the case of mercury.
abstract: There is a lack of information concerning human health risks due to exposure to mercury contained in shark fins, through dietary intake. Health risk assessment of shark fins, collected from 5 cities in China: Hong Kong (HK), Beijing, Shanghai (SH), Haikou (HN) and Wenzhou (WZ), was conducted, based on total mercury and methylmercury, and analyzed by a cold vapor atomic fluorescence spectrometry equipped with high-performance liquid chromatography, respectively. The results showed that 16.8 % samples from HK, 8.3 % from SH, 33.3 % from HN, and 16.8 % from WZ were regarded as unsafe for human consumption. Extremely high consumption rates of shark fins for an adult and a child (0.150 and 0.0807 kg/day, respectively), at 95th centile, samples from WZ demonstrated high non-cancer risks (adverse health effects) (Hazard Quotient = 16.0) on adults (aged 25-65), and samples from SH, HN and WZ also showed high non-cancer risks (Hazard Quotient = 12.9, 21.0, and 34.4, respectively) on children (aged 1-7). Consumption of shark fins may be detrimental to human health.
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University, Lin'an, 311300, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: Yu Bon
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Man
authors.forename: Sheng Chun
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Ming Hung
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Wong
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D058500:Animal Fins; D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005260:Female; D005506:Food Contamination; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis*; D008767:Methylmercury Compounds / Q000032:analysis*; D008875:Middle Aged; D018570:Risk Assessment; D017747:Seafood / Q000032:analysis*; D012754:Sharks; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence
chemical_list: D008767:Methylmercury Compounds; D008628:Mercury