Stable Tuna Mercury Concentrations: Analysis Results and Implications for Health

2024-02-22 00:11:52

Results of analysis of tuna from three oceans including the Pacific… Mercury concentration remains unchanged, children and pregnant women should be careful.

Entered 2024.02.22 09:10 Entered 2024.02.22 09:10 Modified 2024.02.22 10:16 Views 150

Mercury levels in tuna have changed little in 50 years. On the one hand, I feel sorry. However, people who really like tuna can enjoy the taste without change. [사진= 게티이미지뱅크]Healthy people, excluding some who are sensitive to the concentration of mercury, a heavy metal, may continue to enjoy the taste of tuna. This is because the mercury concentration in tuna has not increased any more over the past 50 years.

An environmental research team led by marine ecologist Anne Lorraine of the French Research Institute for Development (IRD) analyzed approximately 3,000 tuna caught in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans between 1971 and 2022 and found that mercury concentrations in tuna have remained stable over the past 50 years. He said he appeared. The American health media ‘Health Day’ reported on the 21st (local time) that the research team particularly focused on tropical tuna species such as skipjack, bigeye, and yellowfin tuna, which account for 94% of the world’s tuna catch.

According to the research team, despite efforts to reduce environmental emissions of toxic heavy metals such as mercury, the mercury concentration in tuna has barely changed since 1971. This is believed to be because mercury, which was discharged concentrated decades ago, sank to the bottom of the sea and continues to rise. Global environmental protection policies have helped reduce mercury pollution caused by human activities such as coal combustion and mining.

Over the past 50 years, atmospheric mercury pollution levels have decreased globally. However, the reason that only the mercury levels in tuna have not changed seems to be because residual mercury in the deep seawater rises to shallow water and affects the tropical tuna that swim and feed there.

Methylmercury is particularly toxic and has a significant effect on the nervous system. Tuna is mainly contaminated with this substance. Fetuses and children are at the highest risk of harm from mercury exposure. The research team said that even if strong measures were taken to reduce mercury levels in tuna, it would take 10 to 25 years for ocean mercury levels to improve. It takes a lot of time for the mercury concentration in tuna to actually decrease.

The results of this study (Stable Tuna Mercury Concentrations since 1971 Illustrate Marine Inertia and the Need for Strong Emission Reductions under the Minamata Convention) were published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters.