Food and Chemical Toxicology 48 (2010) 31673170

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Food and Chemical Toxicology

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foodchemtox

Occurrence of toxic metals (Hg, Cd and Pb) in fresh and canned tuna: Public
health implications
Maria M. Storelli , Grazia Barone, Giuseppe Cuttone, Daniele Giungato, Rita Garofalo
Pharmacological-Biological Department Chemistry and Biochemistry Section, Veterinary Medicine Faculty, University of Bari Strada Prov. le per
Casamassima Km 3, 70010 Valenzano (Ba), Italy

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Hg, Pb and Cd levels in fresh and canned tuna were determined and assessed by comparing element lev-
Received 28 April 2010 els in these samples with maximum permissible limits set by European legislation. The estimated weekly
Accepted 15 August 2010 intakes by human consuming both fresh and canned tuna were also evaluated for possible consumer
health risks. Among tested metals, Hg had the highest concentrations, followed by Pb and Cd either in
fresh tuna or canned tuna. None of the tested samples surpassed the European regulatory limits xed
Keywords: for Cd and Pb, whereas 8.9% of the tuna cans and 20% of fresh tuna samples exceeded standard for Hg.
Fresh tuna
The size of tuna was a determining factor of Hg burden. A high intake of Hg surpassing the toxicological
Canned tuna
Toxic metals
reference value established by WHO, was associated with consumption of larger size tuna specimens.
Food safety Also canned tuna consumption with Hg concentrations higher than 1 lg kg 1, strongly increased the con-
PTWI sumer exposure. In contrast, Cd and Pb weekly intakes through consumption either of fresh tuna or
Health risk canned tuna did not exceed the toxicological reference values established by WHO, and consequently
there was no human health risk. A continuous surveillance system of Hg content in these shery products
is crucial for consumer protection.
2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
An adequate human diet should satisfy the requirements for
energy and nutritive components including essential polyunsatu-
rated fatty acids, essential aminoacids, mineral components, vita-
mins and fat. Fish contains all these substances, but the most
important feature of this food is an advantageous fatty acid pro-
le, resulting from the consistent content of essential polyunsat-
urated fatty acids, such as eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic
acid, known to support good health (Usydus et al., 2009). It is
estimated that the consumption of one portion of fatty sh, dai-
ly, delivers about 900 mg/day of n-3 acids, with consequent
reduction of mortality in patients with coronary diseases
(Kris-Etherton et al., 2002). However, the indisputable benets
deriving by sh consumption may be offset by the presence in
their meat of toxic metals, such as Cd, Pb and especially Hg,
which is present in many sh species often at levels exceeding
the safety standards established by legislation of the various
countries. In relation to this, it is important to remark that with
the exception of occupational exposure, the main Hg exposure
for human is the ingestion of contaminated sh, especially larger
predators. Amongst those species recognised as potentially accu-
Corresponding author. Tel.: +39 0 80 5443866; fax: +39 0 80 5443863.
E-mail address: m.m.storelli@veterinaria.uniba.it (M.M. Storelli).
mulating elevated metal levels, tuna is one of the most fre-
quently consumed and commercially available groups of sh
worldwide (Burger et al., 2005). These pelagic organisms are
high performance sh with very high metabolism rates and,
thus, high food intake rates, a property that accentuates the
exposure to trace elements (Kojadinovic et al., 2007). Conse-
quently, adverse human health effects may occur if this sh is
consumed too often or in large enough quantities. In this context
it is also of interest to consider canned tuna, which amongst
canned shery products is doubtless the most largely and fre-
quently consumed. Canned tuna is, in fact, well eaten in the
developed world, especially in Europe because it is convenient
and affordable for most working families. Europe is the worlds
largest market for canned tuna with 34% of the global consump-
tion and Italy is, after Spain, the second country in canned tuna
consumption (Food Market Exchange, 2003; Glitnir Seafood
Team, 2007). Nevertheless, publications on the concentrations
of toxic elements in canned tuna and dietary intakes of these
elements via these shery products in Italy are lacking. Also
for fresh tuna, information on these topics is rather limited,
although the few literature data conrms ability of these large
pelagic predators to accumulate substantial levels of toxic met-
als, especially mercury (Storelli et al., 2002; Licata et al., 2005).
In the light of what above reported the objectives of present
investigation are the following:

0278-6915/$ - see front matter 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.fct.2010.08.013
3168 M.M. Storelli et al. / Food and Chemical Toxicology 48 (2010) 31673170
1) to determine the concentration levels of Hg, Pb, Cd either in
the edible portion of tuna (thunnus Thynnus) from Mediter-
ranean Sea (Tyrrhenian Sea), or in canned tuna (thunnus
albacares) samples purchased from supermarkets located in
different Italian cities
2) to ascertain whether the metal concentrations are below the
maximum levels established by the European Legislation
(Ofcial Journal of the European Union, 2006; EFSA, 2009)
3) to estimated the weekly intake and compared it with the
Provisional Tolerable Weekly Intake (PTWI) recommended
by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives
(WHO, 2006; EFSA, 2009).
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Collection of samples
In JuneAugust 2007, 20 specimens of bluen tuna (T. thynnus) (length: 105
218 cm, average 140.5 27.1 cm; weight: 13161 kg, average 56.4 34.0 kg) from
Tyrrhenian Sea were caught. Approximately 0.10.3 kg of muscle tissue was re-
moved from the anterior portion of the carcass by a transverse dissection near
the dorsal n. The tissues were dissected with plastic materials that were washed
with HNO3 and rinsed with distilled and deionized water, in order to avoid metal
contamination. Concerning canned tuna, 45 most popular brands (three lots of each
brand) on the Italian market were purchased in large supermarkets and grocery
stores. After opening each can, oil was drained off and the meat was manually
minced and analyzed.
2.2. Chemical analysis and quality control
The extractive analytical procedure and the instrumental conditions for deter-
mine metal concentrations have been described in detail elsewhere (Storelli,
2008). Briey for Pb and Cd, aliquots (about 1.02.0 g) of the homogenised samples
were digested in a quartz Erlenmeyer ask with 11 ml of a mixture of HNO3HClO4
(8:3) using a hotplate heated to 150 C. Additional aliquots of nitric acid (maximum
of 0.2 ml) were added until a completely colourless solution was obtained. After
evaporation the residue was dissolved in 2 ml of water, and nally, the volume
was made up to 25 ml with deionised water. For Hg, the sample was weighed into
a conical ask and digested in 10 ml of H2SO4HNO3 (1:1). The ask was heated un-
der reux conditions until a completely colourless solution was obtained. After
cooling, the resultant solution was diluted to a known volume (100 ml) with deion-
ised water according to the method recommended by Ofcial Italian Agencies
(GURI, 1994). The content of trace elements was determined by atomic absorption
spectroscopy (AAS) (Perkin Elmer Analyst 800). Cd and Pb was analyzed by graphite
furnace technique (THGA-800 P.E.) and Hg by a hydride system (FIMS100) after
reduction by SnCl2. Reference tissue (TORT-2 Lobster Hepatopancreas) was treated
and analysed in the same way as the samples. Results (Hg: 0.28 0.03; Cd:
26.2 2.4; Pb: 0.32 0.18 lg g 1 dry weight) were in good agreement with the cer-
tied values (Hg: 0.27 0.06; Cd: 26.7 0.60; Pb: 0.35 0.13 lg g 1 dry weight),
and the standard deviations were low, proving good repeatability of the methods.
The results for standard reference material displayed recoveries of the elements
ranging from 91% to 104% (n = 3). The limit of detection (LOD) (Hg: 5; Cd: 0.10;
Pb: 10 ng g 1 wet weight) is dened as the concentration corresponding to three
times the standard deviation of blanks and the limits of quantication (LOQs) are
the following: Hg: 13; Cd: 038; Pb: 40 ng g 1 wet weight. Samples with a concen-
tration lower than LOQ were considered equal to 0. Two samples blanks were ana-
lysed together with each sample batch. Metal concentrations in blanks were below
the detection limits in all the analyses. Blanks and calibration standard solutions
were similarly analysed as the digested sample solution, and calibration curves con-
structed. Analyses were duplicated to check the reproducibility of the results.
Recovery tests were performed for the investigated metals in selected samples by
spiking analysed samples with aliquots of the metal standards and then carrying
out digestion. All metal concentrations were determined on a lg g 1 wet weight
basis.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Content of toxic metals in fresh tuna
Among the metals analysed, Hg (0.071.76, average:
0.61 lg g 1 wet wt) showed the highest concentration, followed
by Pb (ND-0.33, average: 0.07 lg g 1 wet wt) and Cd (ND-0.03,
average: 0.01 lg g 1 wet wt). Among these toxic metals only Hg
was present in all tuna specimens, while Cd and Pb were detected
Table 1
1
Estimated weekly intake (EWI) of mercury, cadmium and lead (lg kg body weight)
in fresh and canned tuna samples.
EWI Hg EWI Cd EWI Pb
Fresh tuna 0.133.51 ND-0.07 ND-0.65
1.23 0.95 0.01 0.02 0.14 0.15
Canned tuna 0.021.19 0.010.10 ND-0.10
0.27 0.28 0.03 0.02 0.04 0.03
ND, not detected.
in 95% and 85% of the samples analyzed, respectively. From a more
detailed analysis of results it appeared that Cd and Pb levels were
rather low and did not exhibit a wide between-specimen variation,
whereas the analysis of Hg content revealed strong differences in
specimen contamination level, suggesting a trend in the tissue res-
idues of this metal based on sample size (R = 0.72, p < 0.001). This
nding is conrmed by literature data showing as larger, older sh
have generally higher concentrations than smaller, younger sh.
For example, Storelli et al. (2002) reported that size and mercury
levels were highly correlated for bluen tuna (T. thynnus) from
the Mediterranean Sea, as well as other authors found a such
correlation in yellon tuna (T. albacares) and skipjack tuna
(Katsuwonus pelamis) from the Indian Ocean (Kojadinovic et al.,
2007) and in different tuna species (Thunnus obesus, T. albacares
and Thunnus alalunga) from the Atlantic (Besada et al., 2006) and
South China Sea (Agusa et al., 2005). Many studies have also shown
that mercury is bioamplied in the food chain with high-trophic-
level predatory species, such tuna sharks and swordsh, having
generally high mercury concentrations. For example, Licata et al.
(2005) and Storelli et al. (2002) reported an average of 3.03 lg g 1
wet weight and 1.18 lg g 1 wet wt in bluen tuna from Mediterra-
nean Sea, respectively. As well as, Nakagawa et al. (1997) reported
levels of mercury in tuna from Japan of 1.11 lg g 1 wet wt and
Sivaperumal et al. (2007) in Euthynnus afnis reported concentra-
tions equal to 2.31 lg g 1 wet wt. The propensity of this metal to
undergo biomagnication in the food chain, has been well consid-
ered when the maximum permissible limits above which seafood
would be unsuitable for human consumption were dened. It is
no, in fact, coincidence that European legislation (Ofcial Journal
of the European Union, 2006), as most international regulations,
have adopted an action limit of 0.5 lg g 1 wet wt for seafood, ex-
cept for predatory sh as tuna, sharks etc. for which the allowed
levels is 1 lg g 1 wet wt. According to this standard, Hg concentra-
tions exceeding were observed in 20% of the samples analyzed, and
obviously they were associated with larger size specimens. This
large variation in Hg content constitutes a crucial point when
addressing the assessment of potential health hazards for consum-
ers. In our case, by using the mean mercury concentration (it was
assumed that 100% of the total mercury was methylmercury), hu-
man body weight (60 kg) and a consumption of 120 g tuna/week
(Catarci et al., 2007), the weekly intake (EWI) calculated
(1.2 lg kg 1 bw/week) (Table 1) was below the established PTWI
of MeHg (1.6 lg kg 1 bw/week) (WHO, 2006), but as the gures
indicated (Fig. 1), specimen size was the key parameter which
determined high exposure levels. Hg intakes surpassing PTWI were
generally associated, with the consumption of the larger speci-
mens, whereas the amount of Hg ingested remained within safe le-
vel with the consumption of smaller tunas. Concerning Cd and Pb,
the concentrations recorded in this study were well below the legal
limits (Cd: 0.10 lg g 1 wet wt, Pb: 0.30 lg g 1 wet wt) (Ofcial
Journal of the European Union, 2008), except in a case in which
Pb concentration was close to the established treshold. However,
compared to the safety standards set by (WHO, 2006); EFSA,
2009) for Cd (2.5 lg kg 1 bw/week) and Pb (25 lg kg 1 bw/week),
the estimated intakes (Cd: 0.01 lg kg 1 bw/week; Pb: 0.14 lg kg 1
 M.M. Storelli et al. / Food and Chemical Toxicology 48 (2010) 31673170 3169

Hg concentration ( g g-1 w. w. )
1.5

0.5

0
105 107 109 115 120 120 130 135 139 140 140 145 147 149 150 153 156 172 178 218
Lenght of tuna (cm)
0

0.5
EWI ( g kg-1 bw/week.)

1.5

2.5

b
3.5

1
Fig. 1. Hg concentrations (lg g 1 wet wt) (a) and EWI (lg kg bw/week) (b)/versus length (cm).

bw/week) were well within the safe limits, ranging from 0.40% of
the PTWI for cadmium to 0.56% for lead.
3.2. Content of toxic metals in canned tuna
Similarly to what encountered in fresh tuna samples, Hg
showed the highest concentrations, followed by Pb and Cd. Hg
and Cd were detected in all samples analysed with concentrations
ranging from 0.04 to 1.79 lg g 1 wet wt (average: 0.41 lg g 1 wet
wt) and from 0.01 to 0.14 lg g 1 wet wt (average: 0.04 lg g 1 wet
wt), respectively, while Pb was encountered in 40 of samples ana-
lysed with levels varying between 0.02 and 0.16 lg g 1 wet wt
(average: 0.06 lg g 1 wet wt). Good agreements were, generally,
observed when our results were compared with those reported
by other authors. Emami Khansari et al. (2005) reported a
Cd concentration range of 0.0050.072 lg g 1 wet wt (average:
0.02 lg g 1 wet wt), while Tuzen and Soylak (2007) exhibited a
mean value of 0.08 lg g 1 wet wt for canned tuna purchased from
popular supermarkets in Turkey. Other surveys showed that Cd
concentrations in cans of tuna from Lybia (Voegborlo et al.,
1999), Saudi Arabia (Ashraf, 2006) and Iran (Ganjavi et al., 2010)
were slightly higher than our values, being 0.18 lg g 1 wet wt,
0.16 lg g 1 wet wt and 0.15 lg g 1 wet wt, respectively. Concern-
ing Pb, the concentrations obtained in the present study were
low and generally comparable with those reported in canned tuna
from Turkey (elik and Oehlenschlger, 2007; Tuzen and Soylak,
2007), Iran (Ganjavi et al., 2010) and USA (Ikem and Egiebor,
2005). The decline of Pb concentrations in the marine environment
(Nicolas et al., 1994; Tian and Ruiz-Pino, 1995; Storelli, 2008), to-
gether with the advance of new packaging technology, especially
the use of cans with lacquered walls and mechanical seam that
have reduced or in most cases eliminate the leaching of Pb into
the food, can be responsible of low levels encountered in tested
products (Emami Khansari et al., 2005). Also for mercury, our val-
ues were similar to those reported for canned tuna from other
areas of the world (Voegborlo et al., 1999; Kouyoumjian et al.,
2001; Burger and Gochfeld, 2004; Dabeka et al., 2004; Shim
et al., 2004; VanDerslice et al., 2004; Ikem and Egiebor, 2005;
Ashraf, 2006; Rasmussen and Morrissey, 2007). An evaluation of
the content of toxic metals in these canned sh products based
on the permissible limits set by European legislation (WHO,
2006; EFSA, 2009) showed, however, that in none of the tested
samples the amounts of Cd and Pb exceed the permissible
standards. Concerning mercury, level of 1 lg g 1 is normally high
enough so that tuna fell below this level, although this was not al-
ways the case. Of the tuna cans examined, 8.9% surpassed 1 lg g 1.
3170 M.M. Storelli et al. / Food and Chemical Toxicology 48 (2010) 31673170
This ndings, although not allarming because the standards have
safety margins, may be of concern in consideration of the frequent
dietary consumption of this shery product worldwide. In Italy the
consumption of canned tuna is in constant growth and amounts to
2.1 kg per person per year, corresponding to 40 g for week (Food
Market Exchange, 2003; Valsecchi, 2006, 2007). Based on this value
and the average metal contents it can be concluded that the con-
sumption of canned tuna is safe because the estimated intakes
for Hg (0.27 lg kg 1 bw/week), Cd (0.03 lg kg 1 bw/week) and
Pb (0.04 lg kg 1 bw/week) (Table 1) were notably lower than the
respective PTWIs. However, concerning Hg the wide variability
encountered among the different tested canned products, deter-
mined large uctuations in exposure level. The canned tuna con-
sumption with Hg concentrations higher than 1 lg kg 1 (from
1.17 to 1.79 lg kg 1 wet wt) determined high intakes (from 0.78
to 1.19 lg kg 1 bw/week) constituting from 48.8% to 74.4% of PTWI
of MeHg.
4. Conclusion
In all tested samples, Hg exhibited the highest concentrations
followed by Pb and Cd. The amounts of Cd and Pb were well below
the maximum permitted concentrations by EU legislation for the
human consumption, whereas 8.9% of the tuna cans and 20% of
fresh tuna samples exceeded standard for MeHg. In addition, a gen-
eral picture of the results concerning the consumer exposure
showed that Cd and Pb weekly intakes through either consumption
of fresh tuna or canned tuna remained within safety margins, while
for Hg a different scenario was observed. Hg intakes surpassing
PTWI were associated with the consumption of specimens of larger
size. However, the data obtained clearly indicated that mercury
exposure to human could be minimized if the consumption of tuna
is limited to a certain size. Also the canned tuna consumption with
Hg concentrations higher of 1 lg kg 1 determined high intakes,
constituting over 45.0% of the PTWI. A better selection of the fresh
material, including an analysis for toxic elements prior to process-
ing, could surely improve the situation. In addition, risk reduction
should include educational campaigns to foster both an under-
standing of the relationship among Hg and sh size, sh species,
and trophic levels and to reduce the number of tuna meals to be
consumed. Governmental agencies should make more use of news-
paper and television for such campaigns, since few people learn of
advisories from the state publications which the state relies on
heavily (Burger et al., 1998). The results of the present study sug-
gest the need for an increasing effort in controlling the sources of
Hg pollution in this area.
Conict of Interest
The authors declare that there are no conicts of interest.
References
Agusa, T., Kunito, G., Iwata, H., Subramanian, A., Ismail, A., Tanabe, S., 2005.
Concentrations of trace elements in marine sh and its risk assessment in
Malaysia. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 51, 896911.
Ashraf, W., 2006. Levels of selected heavy metals in tuna sh. Arab. J. Sci. Eng. 31,
8992.
Besada, V., Gonzalez, J.J., Schultze, F., 2006. Mercury, cadmium, lead, arsenic, copper
and zinc concentrations in albacore, yellown tuna and bigeye tuna from the
Atlantic Ocean. Cienc. Mar. 32, 439445.
Burger, J., Sanchez, J., Gochfeld, M., 1998. Fishing, consumption, and risk perception
in sherfolk along an East coast estuari. Environ. Res. 77, 2535.
Burger, J., Gochfeld, M., 2004. Mercury in canned tuna: white versus light and
temporal variation. Environ. Res. 96, 239249.
Burger, J., Stern, A.H., Gochfeld, M., 2005. Mercury in commercial sh. Optimizing
individual choices to reduce risk. Environ. Health Perspect. 113, 266271.
Catarci, C., Scarpato, D., Simeone, M., 2007. Sostenibilit ambientale ed. economia
nel mercato del tonno rosso. Osservatorio europeo dei sistemi territoriali a
vocazione agroalimentare. Franco Angeli editore, New York, pp. 1144.
elik, U., Oehlenschlger, J., 2007. High contents of cadmium, lead, zinc and copper
in popular shery products sold in Turkish supermarkets. Food Control 18, 258
261.
Dabeka, R., McKenzie, A.D., Forsyth, D.S., Conacher, H.B., 2004. Survey of total
mercury in some edible sh and shellsh species collected in Canada in 2002.
Food Add. Contam. 21, 434440.
EFSA, 2009. Scientic panel on contaminants in the food chain. Cadmium in food
30/01/2009. Belgium: EFSA; 2009/03/20. <http://www.efsa.europa.eu/EFSA/
efsa_locale-1178620753820_1211902396126.htm>.
Emami Khansari, F., Ghazi-Khansari, M., Abdollahi, M., 2005. Heavy metals content
of canned tuna sh. Food Chem. 93, 293296.
Food Market Exchange, 2003. Tuna consumption. <www.foodmarketexchange.com/
datacenter/product/seafood/tuna/detail/dc_pi_sf_tuna0401.php>.
Ganjavi, M., Ezzatpanah, H., Givianrad, M.H., Shams, A., 2010. Effect of canned tuna
sh processing steps on lead and cadmium contents of Iranian tuna sh. Food
Chem. 118, 525528.
Glitnir Seafood Team, 2007. Tuna Seafood Industry Report, August 2007, pp.62.
G.U.R.I. (Gazzetta Ufciale della Repubblica Italiana), 1994. Metodi di analisi per la
ricerca di residui di metalli pesanti e arsenico. No. 21 of 27/01/1994.
Ikem, A., Egiebor, N.O., 2005. Assessment of trace elements in canned shes
(mackerel, tuna, salmon, sardines and herrings) marketed in Georgia and
Alabama (United States of America). J. Food Comp. Anal. 18, 771787.
Kojadinovic, J., Potier, M., Le Corre, M., Cosson, R.P., Bustamante, P., 2007.
Bioaccumulation of trace elements in pelagic sh from the Western Indian
Ocean. Environ. Pollut. 146, 548566.
Kouyoumjian, H.H., Tilbian, M., Najjar, E., 2001. Exposure of the Lebanese
population to mercury through shery products and a proposal for a
screening standard. Leb. Sci. J. 2, 3745.
Kris-Etherton, P.M., Hecker, K.D., Bonanome, A., Coval, S.M., Binkoski, A.E., Hilpert,
K.F., Griel, A.E., Etherton, T.D., 2002. Bioactive compounds in foods: their role in
the prevention of cardiovascular disease and cancer. Am. J. Med. 113, 7188.
Licata, P., Trombetta, D., Cristani, M., Naccari, C., Martino, D., Cal, M., Naccari, F., 2005.
Heavy metals in liver and muscle of bluen tuna (Thunnus thynnus) caught in the
Straits of Messina (Sicily Italy). Environ. Monit. Assess. 107, 239248.
Nakagawa, R., Yumita, Y., Hiromoto, M., 1997. Total mercury intake from sh and
shellsh by Japanese people. Chemosphere 35, 29092913.
Nicolas, E., Ruiz-Pino, D., Buat-Mnard, P., Bthoux, J.P., 1994. Abrupt decrease of
lead concentration in the Mediterranean Sea: a response to the antipollution
policy. J. Geophys. Res. 21, 21192122.
Ofcial Journal of the European Union, 2006. Commission regulation (EC) No 1881/
2006 of 19 December 2006 setting maximum levels for certain contaminants in
foodstuffs. L 364/5.
Ofcial Journal of the European Union, 2008. Commission Regulation (EC) no. 629/
2008 of 2 July 2008 setting maximum levels for certain contaminants in
foodstuffs. L 173/6.
Rasmussen, R.S., Morrissey, M.T., 2007. Effects of canning on total mercury, protein,
lipid, and moisture content in troll-caught albacore tuna (Thunnus alalunga).
Food Chem. 101, 11301135.
Shim, S.M., Dorworth, L.E., Lasrado, J.A., Santerre, C.R., 2004. Mercury and fatty acids
in canned tuna, salmon, and mackerel. J. Food Sci. 69, 681684.
Sivaperumal, P., Sankar, T.V., Viswanathan Nair, P.G., 2007. Heavy metal
concentrations in sh, shellsh and sh products from internal markets of
India vis-a-vis international stantards. Food Chem. 102, 612620.
Storelli, M.M., Giacominelli Stufer, R., Marcotrigiano, G.O., 2002. Total and
methylmercury residues in tuna-sh from the Mediterranean sea. Food Add.
Contam. 19, 715720.
Storelli, M.M., 2008. Potential human health risks from metals (Hg, Cd, and Pb) and
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) via seafood consumption: Estimation of target
hazard quotients (THQs) and toxic equivalents (TEQs). Food Chem. Toxicol. 46,
27822788.
Tian, R.C., Ruiz-Pino, D., 1995. Simulation and prediction of anthropogenic lead
perturbation in the Mediterranean Sea. Sci. Total Environ. 164, 135150.
Tuzen, M., Soylak, M., 2007. Determination of trace metals in canned sh marketed
in Turkey. Food Chem. 101, 13781382.
Usydus, Z., Szlinder-Richert, J., Polak-Juszczak, L., Komar, K., Adamczyk, M., Malesa-
Ciecwierz, M., Ruczynska, W., 2009. Fish products available in polish market
Assessment of the nutritive value and human exposure to dioxins and other
contaminants. Chemosphere 74, 14201428.
Valsecchi, A., 2006. Analysis of the Tuna Market at European and World-Wide Level,
paper presented at III European Conference of Tuna, Vigo 1112 September
2006.
Valsecchi, A., 2007. European markets for canned tuna. In: Subasinghe, S., Papiro, S.,
Anthonysamy, S.M. (Eds.), Proceedings of the Tuna 2006 Bangkok 9th World
Tuna Trade Conference, 2527 May 2006. INFOFISH.
VanDerslice, J., Murphy, H., Patrick, G., McBride, D., Magoon, S., 2004. Canned tuna
mercury levels and consumption patterns in Washington State. Presented at the
National Forum on Contaminants in Fish, held in San Diego, Jan. 25-28 and
sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, pp.8889.
Voegborlo, R.B., El-Methnani, A.M., Abedin, M.Z., 1999. Mercury, cadmium and lead
content of canned tuna sh. Food Chem. 67, 341345.
WHO (World Health Organization), 2006. Summary and conclusions of the sixty-
seventh meeting of the joint FAO/WHO Export Committee on Food Additives,
Rome, 2029 June 2006. Geneva: World Health Organization.