Ocean crustaceans, fish and shellfish may contain mercury and other heavy metals. Predatory fish tend to have the highest levels because they concentrate it from the fish that they eat. Humans may be exposed when we eat contaminated fish.
Factors to consider:
(1) usual mercury content of the seafood
(2) amount of seafood consumed
(3) excessive contamination of the water from industrial runoff or dumping
|
Seafood |
Mercury Content |
|
anchovies |
low |
|
catfish |
low |
|
Chilean sea bass |
moderate |
|
clams |
low |
|
cod |
low |
|
crab |
low |
|
crawfish |
low |
|
grouper |
moderate |
|
haddock |
low |
|
halibut |
moderate |
|
herring |
low |
|
lobster, northern |
moderate |
|
lobster, spiny |
low |
|
mackerel, Attlantic |
low |
|
mackerel, Chub |
low |
|
mackerel, king |
high |
|
mackerel, Spanish |
moderate |
|
ocean perch |
low |
|
orange roughy |
moderate |
|
oysters |
low |
|
pollock |
low |
|
salmon |
low |
|
sea scallops |
low |
|
shark |
high |
|
shrimp |
low |
|
squid |
low |
|
swordfish |
high |
|
tilapia |
low |
|
tilefish |
high |
|
trout, freshwater |
low |
|
tuna frozen |
moderate |
|
tuna, canned Albacore |
moderate |
|
tuna, fresh |
moderate |
|
tuna, light canned |
low |
In the implementation, low mercury content was assigned 1 point, intermediate 3 points and high 6 points at each level of consumption (small, moderate, large).
Specialty: Toxicology, Emergency Medicine, Critical Care
