THURSDAY, June 5 (HealthDay News) -- Levels of mercury and other metals are low enough to account for only 2 percent of dietary intake and the fish continue to be a safe source of omega-3 fatty acids, according to the results of a study published in the June issue of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.
Barry C. Kelly, of the Institute of Ocean Sciences in Sidney, British Columbia, Canada, and colleagues analyzed 110 samples of commercial salmon feed, and farmed Atlantic, coho and chinook salmon, as well as 91 samples of wild coho, chinook, chum, sockeye and pink salmon. The samples were tested for levels of mercury, cadmium, lead, nickel, copper and arsenic.
The investigators found that all the species had similar concentrations of metals. Although commercial salmon feed had higher concentrations of metals, they did not bioaccumulate in farmed salmon. The proportion of dietary intake of mercury, cadmium, lead, nickel, copper and arsenic accounted for between 0.05 percent and 32 percent of the total.
"Estimates of human dietary exposure indicate that human health risks associated with trace metal exposure via consumption of farmed and wild
British Columbia salmon are negligible. Even mercury and arsenic, which are notorious contaminants in seafood worldwide, exhibit relatively low levels in farmed and wild British Columbia salmon -- well below human health consumption guidelines," the authors write. "The current scientific evidence therefore supports the weekly consumption of oily fish species (including all British Columbia salmon sources) as recommended by the American Heart Association."
Financial assistance for this study was partially provided by the British Columbia Salmon Farmers Association.
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