Potential health risks from trace elements in four commercially important fish species from the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea

Alaskan waters support a diverse array of fish species that are critical to apex predators and substantial commercial fisheries. Archived white lateral muscle tissue for capelin, herring , walleye pollock, and Pacific cod, captured in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea from 1993 to 1996, were analyzed for 15 trace elements using induced coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The highest concentrations of eight of the 15 elements (cadmium, chromium, cobalt, iron, manganese, selenium, vanadium, and zinc) were found in fish from the central Gulf of Alaska, while capelin showed the highest levels of any of the species in aluminum, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, iron, vanadium and zinc. Arsenic was the only trace element that exceeded the tolerable daily intake (TDI) limits and cancer risk thresholds set by the FAO/WHO in all species from both water masses. With mining and other potentially contaminating anthropogenic activities increasing in coastal Alaska, this study serves as a baseline for future studies highlighting the need for further evaluation of arsenic concentrations in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea and their associated health risks.