Laboratory of Aquatic Biomedicine, College of Veterinary Medicine and Research Institute for Veterinary Science, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Department of Statistics, College of Natural Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
PLoS One. 2019 Mar 13;14(3):e0212410. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0212410. eCollection 2019.
Shark meat is consumed as a food source worldwide, especially in Asian countries. However, since sharks are apex predators in the ocean food chain, they are prone to bioaccumulation of heavy metals. More than 100 million sharks are caught annually for human consumption, and the safety of shark meat cannot be overemphasized. Here, we examined heavy metal concentration in the muscle tissue of 6 shark species including 3 migratory species (Carcharhinus brachyurus, Carcharhinus obscurus, and Isurus oxyrinchus) and 3 local species (Triakis scyllium, Mustelus manazo, and Cephaloscyllium umbratile) from fish markets in Jeju Island, Republic of Korea. The concentrations of 11 heavy metals (Cr, Fe, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Cd, Sn, Sb, Pb, and Hg) and MeHg were analyzed. The result showed that the average concentrations of all metals, except for that of As, were below the regulatory maximum limits of many organizations, including the Codex standard. Hg and MeHg were significantly correlated with body length, body weight, and age, and the concentration of Hg was expected to exceed the limit in C. brachyurus with a body length or weight of over 130 cm or 25 kg, respectively. Our results indicate that shark meat can expose consumers to a high level of As and that copper sharks bigger than the predicted size should be avoided for excessive Hg. Considering these findings, a detailed guideline on consumption of meat of different shark species should be suggested based on further investigation.
鲨鱼肉在全球范围内被当作一种食物来源，尤其在亚洲国家。然而，由于鲨鱼是海洋食物链中的顶级掠食者，它们容易积累重金属。每年有超过 1 亿条鲨鱼被捕捞以供人类食用，因此鲨鱼肉的安全性不容忽视。在这里，我们检测了来自韩国济州岛鱼市场的 6 种鲨鱼（包括 3 种洄游种：短鳍真鲨、黑鳍真鲨和灰六鳃鲨；3 种本地种：灰星鲨、日本须鲨和波纹唇鱼）肌肉组织中的重金属浓度。分析了 11 种重金属（Cr、Fe、Cu、Zn、As、Se、Cd、Sn、Sb、Pb 和 Hg）和 MeHg 的浓度。结果表明，除了 As 以外，所有金属的平均浓度均低于包括食品法典标准在内的许多组织的规定最大限量。Hg 和 MeHg 与体长、体重和年龄显著相关，Hg 浓度预计分别在体长或体重超过 130 厘米或 25 千克的短鳍真鲨和灰六鳃鲨中超过限量。我们的研究结果表明，鲨鱼肉可能会使消费者暴露于高水平的 As 中，而对于大于预测尺寸的铜鲨，应避免摄入过多的 Hg。考虑到这些发现，应该基于进一步的调查，为不同种类的鲨鱼肉的消费提出详细的指导方针。
