Risk assessment of heavy metals in shellfish for the population in Nha Trang City, Vietnam.

The study described in this article was designed to estimate the dietary intake of lead, cadmium, and mercury due to the shellfish consumption of the population in Nha Trang City, Vietnam. The lead, cadmium, and mercury concentrations in the shellfish consumed popularly by the Nha Trang population were investigated by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry from May 2008 to January 2009. The lead, cadmium, and mercury concentration ranges in shellfish are equal to 0.008-0.083, 0.013-0.056, and 0.028-0.056 mg/kg, respectively. The dietary intake of these elements was determined by a total diet study. The heavy metals intake was estimated for six subpopulation groups: men and women aged 18-29, 30-54, and > or =55. The dietary intakes of lead, cadmium, and mercury by the Nha Trang population are currently well below the provisional tolerable weekly intakes of lead, cadmium, and mercury, respectively. Therefore, no risk exists concerning the levels of exposure of Nha Trang consumers to the contaminants studied due to shellfish consumption.

Relevant shellfish consumption data for dietary exposure assessment among high shellfish consumers, Western Brittany, France.

Shellfish consumption can be a major pathway of exposure to pollutants for humans. It is fundamental to know if people eat enough shellfish to cause health problems, firstly in high consumers as recreational shellfish harvesters. The objectives of this study were to investigate the types of shellfish eaten, number of meals, portion size, sources of shellfish and shellfish consumption rates among French recreational shellfish harvesters; to determine factors affecting consumption patterns and to examine the reliability of the two methods used: a Food Frequency Questionnaire and a one-month food diary. The mean consumption rates were 11.63 and 26.21 g/person/day for shellfish derived from a self-harvested source only and from all sources, respectively. Harvester consumption rates were between 6- and 15-fold higher than the general French population. The comparison between the FFQ and the food diary showed that results were reliable. Thereby, our results are relevant to assess risk due to shellfish consumption.