Disparity between state fish consumption advisory systems for methylmercury and US Environmental Protection Agency recommendations: A case study of the south central United States

Abstract

Fish consumption advisories are used to inform citizens in the United States about noncommercial game fish with hazardous levels of methylmercury (MeHg). The US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) suggests issuing a fish consumption advisory when concentrations of MeHg in fish exceed a human health screening value of 300 ng/g. However, states have authority to develop their own systems for issuing fish consumption advisories for MeHg. Five states in the south central United States (Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas) issue advisories for the general human population when concentrations of MeHg exceed 700 ng/g to 1000 ng/g. The objective of the present study was to estimate the increase in fish consumption advisories that would occur if these states followed USEPA recommendations. The authors used the National Descriptive Model of Mercury in Fish to estimate the mercury concentrations in 5 size categories of largemouth bass-equivalent fish at 766 lentic and lotic sites within the 5 states. The authors found that states in this region have not issued site-specific fish consumption advisories for most of the water bodies that would have such advisories if USEPA recommendations were followed. One outcome of the present study may be to stimulate discussion between scientists and policy makers at the federal and state levels about appropriate screening values to protect the public from the health hazards of consuming MeHg-contaminated game fish.

Mislabelling and high mercury content hampers the efforts of market-based seafood initiatives in Peru

“…These values are the same as those assigned by the international food standards of the Codex Alimentarius 57 . In contrast, the US EPA has set its guidelines at 300 ng/g ww 20 . The US EPA recommended levels are lower than those recommended by Peru and FAO-WHO, in part, due to the inclusion of an uncertainty (or safety) factor to account for human-population variability 58,59 ( Supplementary Table S5).…”

“…A subset of 271 samples representing a total of 45 species, one genus, and two orders, were analysed for total mercury content (hereafter mercury; for full explanation go to Mercury methods). Mercury concentrations averaged 331 ± 41.3 ng/g wet weight (ww; range 4.42-8813 ng/g ww) and 28.0% (n = 76) of samples had mercury levels above the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) screening value of 300 ng/g ww 20 . There was a trend for the average mercury level to be lower in samples bought as best choice (281.6 ± 43.7 ng/g ww, n = 91) than in all other samples (356.0 ± 58.1 ng/g ww, n = 180) (t 150 = 1.90, P = 0.06).…”

Effect of Land Cover on Ecoregion‐Scale Spatial Patterns of Mercury Contamination of Largemouth Bass in the Southeastern United States

“…Our study focused on the southeastern United States, defined as a 15-state area from Texas to Maryland that accounts for 33% of the land area of the continental United States (https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/ 2010/geo/state-area.html; Figure 1A). Although there have been studies of Hg contamination in fish within subregions of the southeastern United States (Adams et al, 2016;Drenner et al, 2011Drenner et al, , 2013Dong et al, 2016;Gerstle et al, 2019;Glover et al, 2010;Lange et al, 1993;Sackett et al, 2009Sackett et al, , 2013Sherman & Blum, 2013;Sveinsdottir & Mason, 2005), there has not been a comprehensive analysis of spatial patterns of Hg contamination of fish across the entire southeastern United States as have been conducted in the western United States and Canada (e.g., Eagles-Smith et al, 2016a;Lepak et al, 2016), the Laurentian Great Lakes Area (e.g., Monson et al, 2011;Sandheinrich et al, 2011), and the northeastern United States (e.g, Kamman et al, 2005;Shanley et al, 2012).…”

“…We used the National Descriptive Model of Mercury in Fish (NDMMF; Wente, 2004) to predict Hg concentrations in skin-off fillets of largemouth bass-equivalents (hereafter largemouth bass). Because it is impractical to collect fish of the same size and species from different water bodies over large regions (Wente, 2004), the NDMMF has been widely used to estimate Hg concentrations in a common size and species of fish from water bodies that have been previously sampled (Adams et al, 2016;Depew et al, 2013b;Drenner et al, 2011Drenner et al, , 2013Gerstle et al, 2019).…”

Oral exposure of pregnant rats to toxic doses of methylmercury alters fetal accumulation

“…Indeed, a recent study found that Asians, males, and older individuals tend to have blood concentrations of CH 3 Hg + that meet or exceed the maximum blood concentration of CH 3 Hg + recommended by the USEPA [6–8]. Consumption of more than the recommended amount of fish may be due to the absence of fish consumption advisories for contaminated waters [9] and/or a lack of awareness regarding fish consumption advisories [10]. Pregnant women, in particular, should be aware of guidelines regarding fish consumption in that exposure to methylmercury during pregnancy can lead to significant detrimental effects in the fetus [1].…”