Department of Natural and Exact Sciences, Universidad de la Costa, Calle 58 Nº 55-66, 080002, Barranquilla, Colombia.
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Basic Sciences, Water, Applied and Environmental Chemistry Group, University of Córdoba, Monteria, Colombia.
Environ Res. 2018 Aug;165:324-329. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2018.05.001. Epub 2018 May 17.
The decline in marine and freshwaters catches in recent years in Colombia has led to a change in dietary habits, with an increase in the purchase and consumption of imported fish. This is of particular concern as fish are sometimes caught in mercury-contaminated waters, and are subsequently sold canned or uncanned. In addition, canned tuna has received little attention as it is widely assumed that concentrations are low. In this study, total mercury (THg) and methylmercury (MeHg) concentrations were evaluated in three imported fish species marketed in Colombia, Prochilodus lineatus, Prochilodus reticulatus, and Pangasianodon hypophthalmus, plus four brands of canned tuna and one of sardines. One brand of tuna showed the highest mean concentrations of THg (0.543 ± 0.237 μg/g, wet weight, ww) and MeHg (0.518 ± 0.337 μg/g ww), while concentrations in P. hypophthalmus were approximately 30 times lower (≈0.02 µg/g ww). The estimated weekly intake (EWI) in children was above the provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) of MeHg established by the Joint FAO/World Health Organization (WHO) Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) in 2007, 1.6 μg/kg body weight (bw) per week, for all the canned tuna brands. Values for adults were below PTWI, whereas for women of childbearing age, values were above PTWI only for brand D of canned tuna. The estimate of the potential risk indicated that MeHg levels in canned tuna can generate negative effects in vulnerable groups, while the EWI of fresh fish did not pose a threat to the general population. Therefore, establishing strategies to address the high consumption of canned tuna, and continuous monitoring to control commercial food, are recommended to decrease Hg exposure.
近年来,哥伦比亚海洋和淡水鱼类捕捞量下降,导致饮食结构发生变化,进口鱼类的购买和消费增加。这尤其令人担忧,因为鱼类有时是在受汞污染的水域捕捞的,随后被制成罐装或非罐装出售。此外,罐装金枪鱼很少受到关注,因为人们普遍认为其浓度较低。在这项研究中,评估了在哥伦比亚市场上销售的三种进口鱼类(Prochilodus lineatus、Prochilodus reticulatus 和 Pangasianodon hypophthalmus)以及四种品牌的罐装金枪鱼和一种沙丁鱼中的总汞(THg)和甲基汞(MeHg)浓度。一个金枪鱼品牌的 THg(0.543±0.237μg/g,湿重,ww)和 MeHg(0.518±0.337μg/g ww)平均浓度最高,而 P. hypophthalmus 的浓度则大约低 30 倍(≈0.02μg/g ww)。儿童每周估计摄入量(EWI)超过了 2007 年粮农组织/世界卫生组织(WHO)食品添加剂联合专家委员会(JECFA)制定的甲基汞暂定每周耐受摄入量(PTWI)1.6μg/kg 体重(bw)/周,适用于所有罐装金枪鱼品牌。成人的值低于 PTWI,而对于育龄妇女,仅罐装金枪鱼品牌 D 的值高于 PTWI。潜在风险的估计表明,罐装金枪鱼中的甲基汞水平可能会对弱势群体产生负面影响,而新鲜鱼类的 EWI 不会对普通人群构成威胁。因此,建议制定策略来解决高消费罐装金枪鱼的问题,并进行持续监测以控制商业食品,以减少汞暴露。