Risk profile of methylmercury in seafood

• The highest amount of methylmercury was found in swordfish.
• The risk by methylmercury varies in different geographic areas.
• Risk groups are women of childbearing age, pregnant women and children.
• The main consumption recommendation is to avoid species with high mercury content.

Methylmercury is the most toxic form of mercury for the effects it produces on human health when exposed to it, and fish is the food that contributes most to the intake of this contaminant. Predatory species (swordfish, shark or tuna) have higher levels of mercury, swordfish being the species that showed the highest content, while cephalopods and bivalves had the lowest concentrations. Exposure data and risk, taken from different studies, are variable and indicate that fish consumption may represent a risk only in certain geographic areas and in certain sectors of the population, and it warns of the potential risk in pregnant women, nursing women, women of childbearing age and children. The keys to reducing exposure and minimize risk of fish consumption would be: changes in eating habits at local level, including a varied consumption of fish in the diet; replace the consumption of species with high mercury levels by other species with lower levels; and implement programs of ongoing information from health authorities aimed at the general population and specific risk groups.