A study led by a researcher from the University of Coimbra concluded that there is a lack of a universal methodology to assess the level of mercury present in fish and shellfish that the body can digest.
The study, published in the journal “Marine Pollution Bulletin”, points to “the need to create a universal methodology to estimate the bioaccessibility of mercury (Hg), a toxic heavy metal”, in species of fish and shellfish, said Monday the Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of Coimbra (FCTUC), in a press release sent to the Lusa agency.
Bioaccessibility “translates into what the human body can absorb from the food” it eats, being a relevant instrument to determine the maximum values of contaminants that can be consumed throughout life without risk to health.
In very low concentrations, mercury does not represent a danger to human health, but its long-term accumulation can have harmful effects”, he emphasizes.
In this sense, the study, led by the researcher at the Center for Functional Ecology Filipe Costa, sought to evaluate “the fraction of bioaccessible mercury in fish and shellfish present in the Mediterranean diet”, specifically in species caught in the ocean (black swordfish, tuna, swordfish, blue shark), aquaculture species (salmon and mussels) and estuarine species (mullet and clams).
The results of the study indicate that the bioavailable mercury found in these species of fish and shellfish, “especially after cooking, is well below the levels established by current safety risk assessment legislation.”
However, the team, which also includes researchers from the University of Aveiro, pointed out “that the estimation of the bioaccessibility of mercury in fish and shellfish depends on the method applied, since each extraction method presented different results.”
Among the three extraction methods tested, the Unified Bioaccessibility Method (UBM) provided the highest estimate of bioaccessibility of Hg for consumers.
As for the cooking methods used, “all of them considerably reduced the fraction of bioaccessible mercury”, that is, there was a “decrease in the content of this contaminant”, says Filipe Costa, quoted in the note.
The FCTUC states that “current legislation on food safety only considers the total concentration of contaminants in fish and shellfish, without taking into account the bioaccessibility of the contaminant during the digestion process or the effect of cooking methods on digestive solubilization. of the contaminant”.
Source: Observadora
