Dietary selenium and mercury intakes from fish consumption during pregnancy: Seychelles Child Development Study Nutrition Cohort 2.

Some health agencies have issued precautionary principle fish advisories to pregnant women based on the presence of methylmercury (MeHg) in fish that could possibly be harmful to the developing fetus. Fish, however, is a rich source of selenium (Se) and other nutrients essential for normal brain development. Selenium is also thought to have a key role in alleviating MeHg toxicity. We estimated the dietary Se and MeHg intakes and dietary Se:Hg molar ratios from the fish consumed in a high fish-eating pregnant cohort where no adverse associations of fish consumption and outcomes has been reported. We used dietary data collected as part of the Seychelles Child Development Study Nutrition Cohort 2 (n = 1419). In this cohort 98% of participants consumed fish, with an average intake of 106.2 g per day. Daily Se intakes from fish consumption were 61.6 µg/ d, within the range recommended during pregnancy. The mean dietary Se:Hg molar ratios was 6. These findings demonstrate that fish consumption exposes pregnant Seychellois women to Se in excess of MeHg. Based on these findings, fish consumption, especially fish with Se:Hg ratios above 1, may help pregnant women achieve optimum dietary Se intakes, which may protect against MeHg toxicity.

The role of tropical small-scale fisheries in trace element delivery for a Small Island Developing State community, the Seychelles.

The concentrations of 13 trace elements were determined in 1032 muscles of 54 small-scale fisheries species collected from the Seychelles waters between 2013 and 2019. Overall, profiles were dominated by zinc (Zn) > arsenic (As) > iron (Fe) > copper (Cu) > selenium (Se), with the spiny lobsters, spanner crab and octopus exhibiting the highest levels of As, Cu and Zn while fish had higher Fe concentrations. Both taxonomy-dependent processes and ecological factors explained the interspecific differences of trace element profiles observed. A benefit-risk assessment revealed that crustaceans and cephalopods were good sources of Cu and Zn. One portion of any fish could provide 30-100 % of daily Se needs, and one portion of demersal and pelagic teleost fish could bring 5-20 % of Cu, Fe and Zn needs, especially for young adult and adult women. Finally, our analysis showed that there was very low health risks associated with small-scale fisheries consumption for the Seychelles population.