| Mercury Exposure from Domestic and Imported Estuarine and Marine Fish in the U.S. Seafood Market Elsie M. Sunderland U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Center for Environmental Research, Office of Research and Development, Boston, Massachusetts, USA Abstract
Background: Methylmercury exposure causes a variety of adverse effects on human health. Per capita estimates of mercury exposure are critical for risk assessments and for developing effective risk management strategies. Objective: This study investigated the impact of natural stochasticity in mercury concentrations among fish and shellfish harvested from the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, and foreign shores on estimated mercury exposures. Methods: Mercury concentrations and seafood consumption are grouped by supply region (Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, and foreign shores) . Distributions of intakes from this study are compared with values obtained using national FDA (Food and Drug Administration) mercury survey data to assess the significance of geographic variability in mercury concentrations on exposure estimates. Results: Per capita mercury intake rates calculated using FDA mercury data differ significantly from those based on mercury concentration data for each supply area and intakes calculated for the 90th percentile of mercury concentrations. Conclusions: Differences in reported mercury concentrations can significantly affect per capita mercury intake estimates, pointing to the importance of spatially refined mercury concentration data. This analysis shows that national exposure estimates are most influenced by reported concentrations in imported tuna, swordfish, and shrimp ; Pacific pollock ; and Atlantic crabs. Collecting additional mercury concentration data for these seafood categories would improve the accuracy of national exposure estimates. Key words: Atlantic, fish imports, methylmercury, ocean, Pacific, per capita mercury intake, tuna. Environ Health Perspect 115:235–242 (2007) . doi:10.1289/ehp.9377 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 20 November 2006]
Address correspondence to E.M. Sunderland, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Center for Environmental Research, Office of Research and Development, 1 Congress St., Suite 1100, Boston, MA 02114 USA. Telephone: (617) 918-1543. Fax: (617) 918-1505. E-mail: sunderland.elsie@epa.gov I thank C. Griffiths and K. Mahaffey (U.S. EPA) for thoughtful discussion and assistance preparing this manuscript. I acknowledge M. Miller and G. Serrenbetz (U.S. EPA) and S. Wente (U.S. Geological Survey) for assistance collecting and interpreting data synthesized in this manuscript. I also thank C. Knightes, J. Weiss, and several anonymous reviewers for providing helpful reviews of earlier versions of this manuscript. Statements in this publication reflect the author's professional views and opinions and should not be construed to represent any determination or policy of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The author declares she has no competing financial interests. Received 25 May 2006 ; accepted 20 November 2006.
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