Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Risk-Benefit Assessment for Total Mercury, Arsenic, Selenium, and Omega-3 Fatty Acids Exposure from Fish Consumption in Jamaica

  • Published:
Biological Trace Element Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Fish is important in the traditional diet of Jamaicans, and the fishing industry contributes to social and economic development, as well as food security in Jamaica. However, there are associated health risks from contaminant exposure. The aim of this paper was to use risk-benefit analysis methods to determine the best fish species for consumption. Composite samples consisting of 14 fish species were collected from major fishing villages in 2016 and measured for total mercury, arsenic, selenium, and omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA). Food frequency questionnaires were randomly distributed to 400 participants from different locations on the island. Participants were asked to identify the types of fish, portion size, and the frequency of consumption. An estimate of their weight was also recorded. Total mercury concentrations in fish samples ranged from 0.003 to 0.215 μg/g. The range of arsenic concentrations was 0.11 to 7.8 μg/g. The range of selenium concentrations was 0.302 μg/g to 1.08 μg/g. The mean omega-3 fatty acid concentration was 123.1 ± 93.6 mg/100 g. The fish consumption rates range from 3.2 to 1132.8 g/day. Cod fish was the most consumed species at 23.2 g/day. Four risk-benefit analysis methods were able to recommend four fish species that were best for consumption based on the levels of mercury, arsenic, selenium, and omega-3 fatty acids. They were doctorfish, parrotfish, snappers, and cod fish. The results of this study concluded that there was a low risk of mercury exposure from fish consumed in Jamaica.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. FAO (2016) Fishery and aquaculture country profiles. Jamaica. Country Profile Factsheet, Rome

    Google Scholar 

  2. FAO (2016) The State of the World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2016. Contributing to food security and nutrition for all, Rome

    Google Scholar 

  3. Kong A (2003) The Jamaica fishing industry: brief notes on it’s sturcture, socio-economic importance and some critical management issues. Judicial Symposia Papers.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Washington State Deparment of Health (2016) Health benefits of fish. http://www.doh.wa.gov/CommunityandEnvironment/Food/Fish/HealthBenefits.

  5. Laird B, Chan HM, Kannan K, Husain A, Al-Amiri H, Dashti B, Sultan A, Al-Othman A, Al-Mutawa F (2017) Exposure and risk characterization for dietary methylmercury from seafood consumption in Kuwait. Sci Total Environ 607-608:375–380. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.07.033

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Cubadda F, Jackson BP, Cottingham KL, Van Horne YO, Kurzius-Spencer M (2017) Human exposure to dietary inorganic arsenic and other arsenic species: state of knowledge, gaps and uncertainties. Sci Total Environ 579:1228–1239. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.11.108

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Amlund H, Sele V, Sloth J (2018) Arsenic exposure from seafood consumption.145 -149. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-409548-9.10929-7

  8. US FDA (2014) A quantitaive assessment of the net effects on fetal neurodevelopment from eating commerical fish (As Measured by IQ and also by Early Age Verbal Development in Children).

  9. Ralston NV, Raymond L (2018) Mercury’s neurotoxicity is characterized by its disruption of selenium biochemistry. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - General Subjects 1862(11):2405–2416. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbagen.2018.05.009

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Depew D, Burgess N, Anderson MR, Baker R, Bhavsar SP, Bodaly RAD, Eckley CS, Evans MS, Gantner N, Graydon JA, Jacobs K, LeBlanc JE, St. Louis VL, Campbell LM (2013) An overview of mercury concentrations in freshwater fish species: a national fish mercury dataset for Canada. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 70:436–451

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Neff MR, Robinson JM, Bhavsar SP (2013) Assessment of fish mercury levels in the upper St. Lawrence River. Canada. Journal of Great Lakes Research 39(2):336–343

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Reyes ES, Aristizabal Henao JJ, Kornobis KM, Hanning RM, Majowicz SE, Liber K, Stark KD, Low G, Swanson HK, Laird BD (2017) Associations between omega-3 fatty acids, selenium content, and mercury levels in wild-harvested fish from the Dehcho Region, Northwest Territories, Canada. J Toxicol Environ Health A 80(1):18–31. https://doi.org/10.1080/15287394.2016.1230916

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Karimi R, Fitzgerald TP, Fisher NS (2012) A quantitative synthesis of mercury in commercial seafood and implications for exposure in the United States. Environmental Health Perspectives 120(11):1512–1519. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1205122

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. Cheng Z, Wang HS, Du J, Sthiannopkao S, Xing GH, Kim KW, Yasin MS, Hashim JH, Wong MH (2013) Dietary exposure and risk assessment of mercury via total diet study in Cambodia. Chemosphere 92(1):143–149. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2013.02.025

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Ricketts P, Basu N, Fletcher H, Voutchkov M, Bassaw B (2016) Assessment of fish consumption and mercury exposure among pregnant women in Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago. Chemosphere 164:462–468

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Burger J, Gochfeld M (2011) Mercury and selenium levels in 19 species of saltwater fish from New Jersey as a function of species, size, and season. Sci Total Environ 409(8):1418–1429. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2010.12.034

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  17. Masters J (2015) Final CRFM Statistics information report:2014

  18. Goodrich JM, Chou HN, Gruninger SE, Franzblau A, Basu N (2016) Exposures of dental professionals to elemental mercury and methylmercury. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 26(1):78–85. https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2015.52

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Folch J, Lees M, Sloane Stanley GH (1957) A simple method for the isolation and purification of total lipides from animal tissues. Journal of Biological Chemistry 226:497–509

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Strandberg U, Palviainen M, Eronen A, Piirainen S, Lauren A, Akkanen J, Kankaala P (2016) Spatial variability of mercury and polyunsaturated fatty acids in the European perch (Perca fluviatilis) - Implications for risk-benefit analyses of fish consumption. Environ Pollut 219:305–314. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2016.10.050

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Ralston NV, Ralston C, Raymond L (2016) Selenium health benefit values: updated criteria for mercury risk assessments. Biological Trace Element Research 171:262 -269. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-015-0516-z

  22. Gewurtz SB, Bhavsar SP, Fletcher R (2011) Influence of fish size and sex on mercury/PCB concentration: importance for fish consumption advisories. Environ Int 37(2):425–434. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2010.11.005

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Burger J, Gochfeld M (2013) Selenium and mercury molar ratios in commercial fish from New Jersey and Illinois: variation within species and relevance to risk communication. Food and chemical toxicology : an international journal published for the British Industrial Biological Research Association 57:235–245

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Dewailly E, Rouja P, Dallaire R, Pereg D, Tucker T, Ward J, Weber JP, Maguire JS, Julien P (2008) Balancing the risks and the benefits of local fish consumption in Bermuda. Food Addit Contam Part A Chem Anal Control Expo Risk Assess 25(11):1328–1338. https://doi.org/10.1080/02652030802175285

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Olmedo P, Pla A, Hernandez AF, Barbier F, Ayouni L, Gil F (2013) Determination of toxic elements (mercury, cadmium, lead, tin and arsenic) in fish and shellfish samples. Risk assessment for the consumers. Environ Int 59:63–72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2013.05.005

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Alamdar A, Eqani S, Hanif N, Ali SM, Fasola M, Bokhari H, Katsoyiannis IA, Shen H (2017) Human exposure to trace metals and arsenic via consumption of fish from river Chenab, Pakistan and associated health risks. Chemosphere 168:1004–1012. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2016.10.110

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Filippini T, Malavolti M, Cilloni S, Wise LA, Violi F, Malagoli C, Vescovi L, Vinceti M (2018) Intake of arsenic and mercury from fish and seafood in a Northern Italy community. Food Chem Toxicol 116 (Pt B):20-26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fct.2018.04.010

  28. Delaware Sea Grant (2018) Seafood nutrition overview. https://www.seafoodhealthfacts.org/seafood-nutrition/healthcare-professionals/seafood-nutrition-overview.

  29. Vilavert L, Borrell F, Nadal M, Jacobs S, Minnens F, Verbeke W, Marques A, Domingo JL (2017) Health risk/benefit information for consumers of fish and shellfish: FishChoice, a new online tool. Food Chem Toxicol 104:79–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fct.2017.02.004

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Hu XF, Laird BD, Chan HM (2017) Mercury diminishes the cardiovascular protective effect of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in the modern diet of Inuit in Canada. Environ Res 152:470–477. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2016.06.001

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. US EPA (2018) NATA Glossary of terms. https://www.epa.gov/national-air-toxics-assessment/nata-glossary-terms#hq.

  32. Ralston NV, Kaneko J, Raymond L (2019) Selenium health benefit values provide a reliable index of seafood benefits vs. risks. Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology 55:50–57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtemb.2019.05.009

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Institute of Medicine (US) Panel on dietary antioxidants and related compounds (2000) Dietary Reference Intakes for Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Selenium, and Carotenoids Selenium

  34. Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (2013) Fisheries exploited in Jamaican waters. http://www.crfm.net/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&layout=item&id=52&Itemid=295. Accessed December 28 2018

Download references

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Emmanuel Yumihoze for the assistance with total mercury, selenium, and total arsenic analysis. We also thank Linda Kimpe for the assistance with fatty acid analysis.

Funding

This study was funded by a Commonwealth Science Conference 2017 Follow-On Travel Grant from the Royal Society (CSC\R1\170037).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Radioecological Laboratory, The University of the West Indies Mona campus, Kingston, Jamaica

    Phylicia Ricketts & Mitko Voutchkov

  2. Department of Biology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada

    Hing Man Chan

Authors
  1. Phylicia Ricketts
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Mitko Voutchkov
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Hing Man Chan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Phylicia Ricketts.

Ethics declarations

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the University of the West Indies, Mona campus ethics committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ricketts, P., Voutchkov, M. & Chan, H.M. Risk-Benefit Assessment for Total Mercury, Arsenic, Selenium, and Omega-3 Fatty Acids Exposure from Fish Consumption in Jamaica. Biol Trace Elem Res 197, 262–270 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-019-01965-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-019-01965-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation