Dietary exposure assessment of selected trace elements in eleven commercial fish species from the Missouri market.

ABSTRACT

Fish is an important source of proteins, vitamins, minerals, and polyunsaturated fatty acids for nutrition adequacy. However, fish is a major link to dietary metal exposure in humans. This study describes the content of eight trace elements (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, and Hg) in eleven commercial fish species from the Missouri market and evaluated the health risks of fish muscle consumption in the adult population. Total mercury (THg) in muscle was quantified by AAS and ICP-OES was used for other elements. The recovery rates of elements from DOLT-5 reference material ranged from 83% to 106%. Of all the 239 fish samples analyzed, trace element concentrations (mg/kg wet weight) in muscle were in the following ranges As < LOD-17.5; Cd 0.016-0.27; Cr 0.023-0.63; Cu 0.034-1.06; Ni Arsenic content in some demersal fish species posed potential toxicity. Further, the incremental (ILCR) and cumulative (∑ILCR) cancer risks for As, Cr, and Ni exceeded the benchmark (10-5), which is a concern. Limited consumption of demersal fish species may protect adult consumers from potential health hazards.