Fish for human consumption: risk of contamination by mercury

Total mercury concentrations were measured in the muscle of different kinds of fish: megrim (Lepidorhombus boscii), common sole (Solea vulgaris), striped mullet (Mullus barbatus), anglerfish (Lophius piscatorius), and black-bellied angler (Lophius budegassa), caught in the South Adriatic Sea (South Italy). The highest total mercury levels were found in anglerfish (0.61-2.22 mg/kg wet wt, mean 1.26 +/- 0.58), followed by black-bellied angler (0.22-1.62 mg/kg wet wt, 0.68 +/- 0.36), megrim (0.05-0.92 mg/kg wet wt, 0.39 +/- 0.30), striped mullet (0.10-0.63 mg/kg wet wt, 0.31 +/- 0.13) and common sole (0.05-0.44 mg/kg wet wt, 0.19 +/- 0.15). According to current regulations, 62.5% of anglerfish (Lophius piscatorius) and 23% of black-bellied angler (Lophius budegassa) samples showed concentrations exceeding the peak value of 1 mg/kg, while only 25% of samples of megrim (Lepidorhombus boscii), and 8.3% of striped mullet (Mullus barbatus), exceeded the peak value fixed at 0.5 mg/kg. Correlations between total mercury concentration and specimen weight were evident in all the species examined.