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Assessment of mercury contamination and food composition in commercially important marine fishes in the southern South China Sea
Citation
Zulkipi, SZ and Tan, CP and Seah, YG and Liew, HJ and Sung, YY and Ando, M and Wang, M and Liang, Y and McMinn, A and Mok, WJ, Assessment of mercury contamination and food composition in commercially important marine fishes in the southern South China Sea, Regional Studies in Marine Science, 58 Article 102795. ISSN 2352-4855 (2023) [Refereed Article]
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DOI: doi:10.1016/j.rsma.2022.102795
Abstract
This study examined mercury contamination in common commercial marine fish caught from the South
China Sea. Specifically, the muscle tissue mercury levels of four species (n = 10), one each from
the Scombridae, Serranidae, Carangidae, and Nemipteridae families, was examined using a direct
mercury analyzer (MA-3000); their trophic level was assessed using TrophLab tm software.
Provisional tolerable weekly intake levels (PTWI) and the relationships between lengthmercury
concentration and weightmercury concentration of species using Pearson correlation coefficient
were identified. Samples from the Serranidae family had the highest muscle mercury concentrations,
followed by Nemipteridae, Carangidae, and Scombridae in descending order. The results show that the
highest mercury concen-
trations were found in Epinephelus heniochus (2.34 ± 0.22 µg/g) from the Serranidae family, while
the lowest mercury concentrations were found in Scomberomorus guttatus (0.05 ± 0.00 µg/g) from the
Scombridae family. This study suggests that factors such as size, composition of food in the fish
gut, and habitat had the greatest influence on the mercury levels found in these fishes. The PTWI
data showed that only 31% of the species in the current study had not exceeded the recommended
safety level of 1.6 µg/kg BW/week methylmercury intake. A consideration of PTWI can help to reduce fish
consumption risks to consumers by providing a recommended consumption level of each fish.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | mercury, commercial fish, South China Sea, Serranidae, Carangidae, Scombridae, Nemipteridae, PTWI |
| Research Division: | Biological Sciences |
| Research Group: | Ecology |
| Research Field: | Marine and estuarine ecology (incl. marine ichthyology) |
| Objective Division: | Animal Production and Animal Primary Products |
| Objective Group: | Fisheries - wild caught |
| Objective Field: | Wild caught fin fish (excl. tuna) |
| UTAS Author: | McMinn, A (Professor Andrew McMinn) |
| ID Code: | 154921 |
| Year Published: | 2023 |
| Deposited By: | Ecology and Biodiversity |
| Deposited On: | 2023-01-19 |
| Last Modified: | 2023-01-19 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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