Alaska Division of Public Health, Section of Epidemiology, 3601 C Street Ste. 540, Anchorage, AK 99503, United States of America; Geosyntec Consultants, 3003 Minnesota Dr. Ste. 302, Anchorage, AK 99503, United States of America; Alaska Pacific University, 4101 University Dr., Anchorage, AK 99508, United States of America.
Division of Environmental Health, Office of The State Veterinarian, 5251 Dr. MLK Jr. Ave., Anchorage, AK 99507, United States of America.
Sci Total Environ. 2020 Sep 20;736:139676. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139676. Epub 2020 May 25.
On average, Alaskans in rural communities consume over three times the Federally recommended maximum weekly fish ingestion rate (IR), the overwhelming majority of which is Pacific salmon. Results of statewide monitoring efforts consistently show that Pacific salmon from Alaska have low concentrations of mercury, yet concerns regarding dietary exposure to methylmercury (MeHg) and other aquatic contaminants continue to contribute to declining subsistence fish consumption rates in rural communities. Therefore, the goal of the present study was to use statewide biomonitoring datasets and regional fish IRs to quantitatively evaluate potential risk from dietary MeHg exposure via subsistence consumption of salmon from Alaska. Hazard Indices (HIs) did not exceed 1 for any of the groups evaluated, indicating negligible risk for the average Alaskan subsistence consumer. Selenium health benefit values (HBV) of various fish species from AK were also calculated, with positive results for all commonly consumed subsistence species. Additionally, mercury concentrations in the hair of Alaskan women were evaluated as a proxy for dietary MeHg exposure. Results reveal that Alaskan women of childbearing age have substantially lower hair Hg concentrations than their counterparts in other large-scale biomonitoring studies, despite similar fish IRs. Collectively, results of the present study suggest that MeHg in Pacific salmon does not pose an unacceptable hazard for the average subsistence consumer in Alaska.
平均而言，农村社区的阿拉斯加人每周摄入鱼类的量超过了联邦推荐的最高摄入量的三倍，其中绝大多数是太平洋三文鱼。全州监测工作的结果一直表明，来自阿拉斯加的太平洋三文鱼的汞含量很低，但人们对通过食用甲基汞（MeHg）和其他水生污染物摄入膳食的担忧，仍导致农村社区的传统食用鱼消费率持续下降。因此，本研究的目的是利用全州生物监测数据集和区域鱼类摄入量，定量评估通过食用阿拉斯加三文鱼进行传统消费而摄入 MeHg 可能带来的风险。在所评估的所有组中，危害指数（HI）均未超过 1，这表明平均阿拉斯加传统消费者面临的风险可忽略不计。还计算了来自 AK 的各种鱼类的硒健康效益值（HBV），所有常见的传统食用物种都有积极的结果。此外，还评估了阿拉斯加妇女头发中的汞浓度，以作为膳食 MeHg 暴露的替代指标。结果表明，尽管阿拉斯加妇女的鱼类摄入量与其他大型生物监测研究中的妇女相似，但处于生育年龄的阿拉斯加妇女的头发中汞浓度明显低于这些研究中的妇女。总的来说，本研究的结果表明，太平洋三文鱼中的 MeHg 对阿拉斯加的普通传统消费者来说，不会造成不可接受的危害。
