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Investigating Bioaccessibility of Methylmercury from Seafood Commonly Consumed in North America
Author(s) -
Siedlikowski Maia,
Bradley Mark,
Basu Niladri
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.29.1_supplement.905.5
Subject(s) - tuna , methylmercury , mercury (programming language) , human health , toxicant , fishery , halibut , food science , toxicology , environmental health , biology , environmental science , chemistry , environmental chemistry , fish <actinopterygii> , medicine , toxicity , bioaccumulation , organic chemistry , computer science , programming language
More than 1 billion people worldwide rely on seafood as their main protein source, but all seafood is contaminated with the toxic chemical mercury (Hg) in its methylated form (MeHg). Humans' main route of exposure to MeHg is through seafood consumption. Dietary assessment tools are used to evaluate the related risks and benefits. A major assumption in estimating these risks is that 100% of MeHg ingested is absorbed, yet emerging evidence suggests otherwise. Our goal is to increase the understanding of human exposure to MeHg by studying the absorption of this potent toxicant in the human gastrointestinal tract. We determined bioaccessibility of MeHg from the 10 most consumed types of seafood in North America (n=12 per type of seafood) identified by epidemiological surveys. An established in vitro gastrointestinal digestion method was designed to mimic human physiology. The mean bioaccessibility (±SD) of MeHg from 6 types of seafood was less than 100%: canned light tuna 65±8%, canned white tuna 75±2%, fresh tuna 97±1%, cod 99±0.2%, crab 77±9%, and halibut 89±1%. Furthermore, the mean bioaccessibility of MeHg from canned light tuna differed significantly (p<0.05) from those of fresh tuna, cod, and scallop. This research aims to more accurately gauge MeHg‐associated risks based on current dietary assessment tools, advance our knowledge of human exposure to MeHg, and ultimately translate to better public health guidelines concerning seafood consumption. In addition, given recent global support of the United Nations Minamata Convention, there is a need to develop innovative research methods to effectively manage Hg in the environment and MeHg in our food web. Supported by the United States Environmental Protection Agency