title: Human exposure to methylmercury from crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) in China.
abstract: Methylmercury (MeHg) accumulation in aquatic food raises global concerns about human exposure to MeHg. Crayfish is the world's third largest farmed crustacean species and a favorite aquatic food in many countries. However, human health hazard due to MeHg exposure via crayfish consumption is unclear, partly because appropriate survey data are lacking. We report on mercury concentrations and speciation in edible tail muscle of crayfish collected from restaurants in 23 Chinese cities. On average, MeHg constituted 99.1 % of mercury in tail muscle, and MeHg concentrations were comparable with those reported for fish in China. Variation in MeHg concentrations was not attributable to broad geographic region (i.e., provinces) or tail length. For different populations, potential health risk (characterized by hazard quotient or HQ) of MeHg exposure through crayfish consumption depended largely on crayfish consumption rates. In particular, a health hazard (HQ > 1) was found for high-rate consumers (i.e., 95 %ile or higher) in some cities in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River (MLYR), during the peak consumption season. Our results suggest that more attention should be paid to dietary MeHg intake via crayfish consumption in China, particularly for communities with high consumption in MLYR.
authors: School of Environment, State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, Nanjing University, 163 Xian Lin Da Dao, Nanjing, 210023, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China.
authors: Qian
authors: Q
authors: Peng
authors: Environmental Health Sciences Division, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA.
authors: Ben K
authors: BK
authors: Greenfield
authors: State Key Laboratory of Soil Environment and Pollution Remediation, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China.
authors: Fei
authors: F
authors: Dang
authors: School of Environment, State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, Nanjing University, 163 Xian Lin Da Dao, Nanjing, 210023, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China. zhonghuan@nju.edu.cn.
authors: Huan
authors: H
authors: Zhong
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000818:Animals; D003400:Astacoidea / Q000378:metabolism*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005260:Female; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008767:Methylmercury Compounds / Q000032:analysis*; D008875:Middle Aged; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D008767:Methylmercury Compounds; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Crayfish; Dietary exposure; Food safety; Methylmercury