Abstract
Mercury is an environmental contaminant and may occur as methylmercury in marine organisms. Methylmercury is considered as having higher toxicity than the inorganic form; therefore, it is important to differentiate the mercury species in order to evaluate the potential risk for seafood consumers. In the largest study of the German market to date, 536 marine foods from the state of Baden-Württemberg (southwestern Germany) were analyzed using gas chromatography with atomic emission detection. Methylmercury was found at levels ranging from non-detectable (below 6 μg/kg) up to 567 μg/kg. The average, median, 90th, 95th, and 99th percentile contents were 38, 22, 78, 117, and 316 μg/kg, respectively. The average methylmercury proportion of total mercury was 70%. Based on a daily total fish and seafood consumption of 30 g according to the German National Nutrition Survey II, the methylmercury exposure was estimated to range between 5 μg/week (median) and 67 μg/week (99th percentile), which was below the provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) established by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives. The risk of methylmercury for the German fish consumer was judged to be rather low, being restricted to the unlikely worst-case scenario of daily consumption of highly contaminated fish, which could exceed the PTWI. In conclusion, the previous opinions that the benefits of the moderate fish consumption appear to outweigh the risks associated with methylmercury exposure were confirmed by our survey.
References
Díez S (2009) Rev Environ Contam Toxicol 198:111–132
IARC (1993) IARC monographs on the evaluation of carcinogenic risks to humans, vol 58, Beryllium, cadmium, mercury, and exposures in the glass manufacturing industry. International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon
Clarkson TW (2002) Environ Health Perspect 110(Suppl 1):11–23
Ekino S, Susa M, Ninomiya T, Imamura K, Kitamura T (2007) J Neurol Sci 262:131–144
Clarkson TW, Strain JJ (2003) J Nutr 133:1539S–1543S
Scientific panel on contaminants in the food chain (2004) EFSA J 34:1–14
JECFA (2003) Joint FAO/WHO expert committee on food additives. Sixty-first meeting. Summary and conclusions. www.who.int/pcs/jecfa/jecfa.htm
JECFA (2010) Joint FAO/WHO expert committee on food additives. Seventy-second meeting. Summary and conclusions. http://www.who.int/entity/foodsafety/chem/summary72_rev.pdf
National Research Council (NRC) (2000) Committee on the toxicological effects of methylmercury: toxicological effects of methylmercury. National Academic Press, Washington
Nakagawa R, Yumita Y, Hiromoto M (1997) Chemosphere 35:2909–2913
Dabeka R, McKenzie AD, Forsyth DS, Conacher HB (2004) Food Addit Contam 21:434–440
Knowles TG, Farrington D, Kestin SC (2003) Food Addit Contam 20:813–818
Storelli MM, Marcotrigiano GO (2004) Food Addit Contam 21:1051–1056
Juresa D, Blanusa M (2003) Food Addit Contam 20:241–246
Falcó G, Llobet JM, Bocio A, Domingo JL (2006) J Agric Food Chem 54:6106–6112
Cortes S, Fortt A (2007) Food Addit Contam 24:955–959
Storelli MM, Barone G, Piscitelli G, Marcotrigiano GO (2007) Food Addit Contam 24:1353–1357
Burger J, Gochfeld M (2006) Sci Total Environ 367:1010–1016
Bloom NS (1992) Can J Fish Aquat Sci 49:1010–1017
Jacobs G (1977) Z Lebensm Unters Forsch 164:71–76
Westöö G (1966) Acta Chem Scand 20:2131–2137
Lansens P, Leermakers M, Baeyens W (1991) Water Air Soil Pollut 56:103–115
Tseng CM, de Diego A, Pinaly H, Amouraoux D, Donard OFX (1998) J Anal At Spectrom 13:755–764
Cardoso C, Bandarra N, Lourenço H, Afonso C, Nunes M (2010) Risk Anal 30:827–840
Kuballa T, Leonhardt E, Schoeberl K, Lachenmeier DW (2009) Eur Food Res Technol 228:425–431
Quevauviller P, Drabæk I, Muntau H, Bianchi M, Bortoli A, Griepink B (1996) Trends Analyt Chem 15:160–167
Max-Rubner-Institut (2008) Nationale Verzehrsstudie II, Ergebnisbericht, Teil 2. Max-Rubner-Institut, Karlsruhe
Lindberg A, Björnberg KA, Vahter M, Berglund M (2004) Environ Res 96:28–33
Herrmann R, Möser A, Weber S (2009) The case of Germany. In: Stiegert KW, Kim DH (eds) Structural changes in food retailing: six country case studies. Food System Research Group (FSRG) Monograph Series, Madison, pp 51–75
Gochfeld M, Burger J (2005) Neurotoxicology 26:511–520
Blanchemanche S, Marette S, Roosen J, Verger P (2010) Health Risk Soc 12:271–292
Mozaffarian D, Rimm EB (2006) JAMA 296:1885–1899
Acknowledgments
The project was financed by a grant from the ‘Ministerium für Ländlichen Raum, Ernährung und Verbraucherschutz Baden-Württemberg’ (Ministry of Rural Affairs, Food and Consumer Protection of the German Federal State of Baden-Württemberg). The skillful technical assistance of H. Havel and H. Mann is gratefully acknowledged.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kuballa, T., Moellers, M., Schoeberl, K. et al. Survey of methylmercury in fish and seafood from the southwestern German market. Eur Food Res Technol 232, 737–742 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00217-011-1446-4
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00217-011-1446-4