Dewailly, E., and Knap, A.h. (2006) Food from the Ocean and Human Health: Balancing Risks and Benefits. Oceanography 19 (2):84-87 (original) (raw)
Nutritional Value and Associated Potentials Risks of Seafood Consumption
Advances in clinical toxicology, 2016
Seafood provides essential nutrients to the body. A study funded by CDC found that eating seafood for essential Omega-3 fatty acids can prevent 84,000 deaths each year. According to a Harvard study, 3-ounce servings of fatty fish a week reduces the risk of dying from heart disease by nearly 40%. Eating 8 two servings of fish per week during pregnancy can improve baby's IQ, cognitive development, and eye health. Older adults with the highest fish consumption live and average of 2.2 years longer. But all these statements possess another side of the coin. Food-born poisoning, mercury-leadarsenic-cadmium poisoning, exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) raised the issue of safety with aberrant consumption of seafoods. Seafood choices that are very low in mercury include: salmon, sardines, pollock, flounders, cod, tilapia, shrimp, oysters, clams, scallops and crab. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have developed the following advice to help consumers minimize risks that could be associated with mercury in seafood.
Food Control, 2013
For hake, ray, and silver scabbard fish, the intake of methylmercury (methyl-Hg), selenium (Se), and eicosapentaenoic þ docosahexaenoic fatty acids (EPA þ DHA) through their consumption in Portugal and the associated probability of exceeding the provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI), the recommended daily allowance (RDA), and the recommended daily intake (RDI), respectively, were estimated. For this, the methyl-Hg, Se, and EPA þ DHA concentrations in the studied fish species were combined with constructed consumption scenarios for the elaboration of consumption recommendations or with a hypothesized Portuguese consumption distribution with the purpose of estimating the risk-benefit situation in Portugal.
Human Health Risks Due to Consumption of Chemically Contaminated Fishery Products
Environmental Health Perspectives, 1993
A small proportion of fishery products contaminated with appreciable amounts of potentially hazardous inorganic and organic contaminants from natural and environmental sources seem to pose the greatest potential for toxicity to consumers of fishery products in the United States. Health risks due to chemicals (e.g., modest changes in the overall risk of cancer, subtle deficits of neurological development in fetuses and children) are difficult to measure directly in people exposed to low levels. Immunocompetence may increase cancer risk. Inferences about the potential magnitude of these problems must be based on the levels of specific chemical present, observations of human populations and experimental animals exposed to relatively high doses, and theories about the likely mechanisms of action of specific intoxicants and the population distribution of sensitivity of human exposure. Lognormal distributions were found to provide good descriptions of the pattern ofvariation of contaminant concentrations among different species and geographic areas; this variability offers a solution for reduction of exposure through restricting harvest of aquatic animals from certain sites and by excluding certain species. Available information suggest that risks are not generally of high magnitude; nevertheless, their control will significantly improve public health. The following recommendations will help to reduce risk to humans: existing state and Federal regulations and environmental monitoring must be strengthened and enforced to improve the quality ofthe environment; a program of shared responsibility where Federal agencies develop a set of monitoring and inspection practices and state governments are responsible for site closures and issuing advisories should be established; research and public education by government agencies and health professionals should be expanded; mandatory labeling should be considered for specific contaminants; and a better system requiring international agreements should be developed to identify country of origin of imported fishery products and to harmonize product safety and quality.
Risk-Benefit Analysis of Seafood Consumption: A Review
Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, 2012
Seafood, defined here as marine and freshwater fish and shellfish, is recognized as a healthy food choice because it is a low-fat protein source that provides long-chain omega-3 fatty acids important for early development along with eye and heart health. However, seafood is also known to contain certain contaminants, such as methylmercury and persistent organic pollutants, which can have harmful effects on human health and development. In order to limit exposure to contaminants while maximizing the benefits of seafood consumption, a number of quantitative and qualitative risk-benefit analyses have been conducted for seafood consumption. This review paper provides a brief background on risk-benefit analysis of foods, followed by a discussion of the risks and benefits associated with fish consumption. Next, risk-benefit analyses are reviewed in an historical context. While risk-benefit analysis consists of three main elements (that is, assessment, management, and communication), this review will primarily focus on risk-benefit assessments. Overall, most studies have found that the benefits far outweigh the risks among the general population, especially when a variety of fish is consumed at least twice per week. However, for certain populations (for example, pregnant women and young children) a more targeted approach is warranted in order to ensure that these groups consume fish that are low in contaminants but high in omega-3 fatty acids. The potentially harmful unintended consequences of risk-benefit communication on the general population and certain groups are also discussed.
Environmental Research, 2010
The use of community-based participatory research (CBPR) methods to conduct environmental exposure assessments provides valuable insight about disparities in seafood consumption and contaminant exposure. Ninety-five community-specific seafood consumption surveys were administered to low-income African-American women (ages 16-49) residing in the Southeast community of Newport News, VA, USA, for the purpose of assessing potential dietary mercury exposure. Only the results of the seafood consumption surveys are presented in this manuscript. Approximately 65% of the women surveyed do not fish; however, 83% had consumed seafood within the last 7 days. Whiting, shrimp, and canned tuna were the three items most frequently consumed. Ninety-three percent of the women surveyed stated that grocery/seafood markets were the main sources of the seafood items generally consumed. The mean seafood consumption rate for the women surveyed was 147.8 g/day (95% CI: 117.6-185.8), a rate substantially higher than the mean seafood consumption rate reported for US women (1.8 g/day 95% CI: 1.51-2.04). Shrimp, croaker, and blue crab were the top three seafood items with the highest summed amount (g/day) consumed. There was no significant association between demographic variables (age, income, education, and weight) and total number of seafood items listed, ingestion rate (g/meal), exposure frequency (meals/year), and seafood consumption rate (g/day). By using CBPR to assess seafood consumption in this community, we learned that even though women in Southeast Newport News, Virginia are not subsistence fishers, they consume seafood at a subsistence fisher rate. Of the three seafood items most frequently consumed, canned tuna potentially plays a significant role in dietary mercury exposure for women in this community. Future work includes determining mercury concentrations in seafood items consumed and generating community-specific statements of dietary mercury risks.
Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: An International Journal, 2021
Background: Exposure to mercury (Hg) through the consumption of seafood is a major public health concern. The tissues of high trophic level marine organisms, such as cetaceans, often contain high concentrations of Hg compared to lower trophic level species. The archipelagic Caribbean nation of St. Vincent & the Grenadines supports two related whaling operations, which produce food from cetaceans for human consumption. A recent study reported that Hg concentrations in tissue samples from one of these whaling operations exceed recommended consumption limits. Our objective was to determine the role of cetacean-based food products in the diet of the Vincentian population as a proxy for exposure to MeHg. Methods: We conducted interviews with 921 members of the Vincentian public. We asked questions about the types of food consumed, frequency of consumption, and quantities consumed. Based upon provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) guidelines for methylmercury (MeHg) from the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO), we determined safe weekly consumption amounts for speci c cetacean-based food products, based upon reported consumption patterns. Results: We found cetacean-based food products to be included in the diet of 77.4 percent of respondents. Respondents' gender and geographical home region are the most predictive attributes for cetacean-based food product consumption, whereas socioeconomic status and age play a minor role and no role, respectively. Frequency and amount of consumption vary, but generally exceed calculated safe weekly consumption amounts. Conclusions: The consumption of cetacean-based food products by members of the Vincentian public may represent a public health risk, as data indicate that a large portion of the population may be exposed to concentrations of MeHg in excess of recommended limits. Any potential action to address this risk is likely to be most effective if targeted toward the speci c high-consumption population segments identi ed by our study.
75-Canuel_MeHg-Fish-consumption-2006.pdf
Fish constitutes the main dietary protein source for many populations worldwide. However, the presence of methylmercury (MeHg) in fish flesh can affect the health of frequent fish consumers. Health risk assessment requires fitting the level of exposure of food-borne contaminants to a mathematical function relating exposure to effects on health . Most epidemiologic studies dealing with the MeHg issue use mercury (Hg) levels in hair as the only indicator of human exposure, without relating this signal to actual fish consumption patterns among populations. The expected constant and linear relation between MeHg oral dose and body burden is used by government officials to establish guidelines on safe levels of MeHg exposure. Our objective in the present study was to test the validity of this approach by relating measured exposure to MeHg through fish consumption and associated measured levels of Hg in human hair. Using information yielded by a) a complete data set that includes, for three distinct Canadian communities, fish consumption patterns, biomarkers of human exposure, and related levels of Hg in edible fish species; and b) reanalysis of other published research related to fish consumption and hair Hg concentrations, allowed us to demonstrate that Hg levels in hair do not always reflect the reported level of MeHg intake via fish consumption, and therefore, the expected constant and linear relation between MeHg oral dose and body burden seems to vary significantly among ethnic groups. This observation could lead to questioning of regulatory policies and advisory guidelines on fish consumption.
Sources to Seafood: Mercury Pollution in the Marine Environment
2012
In 2010, the Toxic Metals Superfund Research Program at Dartmouth College brought together a group of 50 scientists and policy stakeholders to form C-MERC, the Coastal and Marine Mercury Ecosystem Research Collaborative. The goal was to review current knowledge-and knowledge gaps-relating to a global environmental health problem, mercury contamination of the world's marine fish. C-MERC participants attended two workshops over a two-year period, and in 2012 C-MERC authors published a series of peer-reviewed papers in the journals Environmental Health Perspectives and Environmental Research that elucidated key processes related to the inputs, cycling, and uptake of mercury in marine ecosystems, effects on human health, and policy implications. This report synthesizes the knowledge from these papers in an effort to summarize the science relevant to policies being considered at regional, national, and global levels. The Dartmouth Toxic Metals Superfund Research Program uses an interdisciplinary approach to investigate the ways that arsenic and mercury in the environment affect ecosystems and human health. Arsenic and mercury are commonly found in Superfund sites around the U.S. as well as other areas that result in exposures to certain communities. The Research Translation Core of the program communicates program science to government partners, non-governmental organizations, health care providers and associations, universities and the lay community, and facilitates the use of its research for the protection of public health. The Research Translation Core organized the C-MERC effort.
Comparison of Seafood Consumption in a Group of Italian Mother-Child Pairs
Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition, 2014
Nevertheless, seafood may also contain persistent organic pollutants, such as dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) (1) and represents the main source of mercury in humans (6). Both contaminants and LCPUFA levels have a considerable variability, being affected by seafood species, size, location of harvest, age, and composition of feed. Fish at high food-chain levels, particularly large predatory species, have higher LCPUFAs and mercury content (4) and lipophilic compounds, such as dioxins and PCBs found in the fatty tissue of some fish. Moreover, higher LCPUFA levels are found in fatty and ocean fish (1).