Risks Associated With Seafood
The safety of seafood in the US has increased in recent decades, although there are still a number of chemical and microbial hazards that are present in seafood.
Whether a contaminant poses a health risk to consumers depends on the amount present in the food and the potential outcome from exposure.
Consumers are exposed to a complex mixture of dietary and non-dietary contaminants.
However, most studies of the risks associated with seafood focus on one contaminant at a time rather than a mixture.
The extent to which such co-exposure might affect the toxicity of seafood-borne contaminants is largely unknown.
Similarly, few data are available on the extent to which beneficial components of seafood, such as selenium, might mitigate the risks associate with seafood-borne contaminants.
The evidence reviewed indicates that the levels of different contaminants in seafood depend on several factors such as species, size, location, age and feed source.
Levels of some contaminants in seafood vary substantially due to their geographic localization; areas of highest variation tend to be mostly fresh-water.
Consumption of aquatic foods is the major route of human exposure to methyl-mercury. The seafood choices a consumer makes and the frequency with which different species are consumed are thus important determinants of methyl-mercury intake.
Exposure to MeHg among US consumers in general is a concern because there is uncertainty about the potential for subtle adverse health outcomes.
Persistent organic pollutant (POPs), including dioxins and PCBs, can be found in the fatty tissue of all animal derived foods, including seafood.
The greatest concern is for population groups exposed to POPs is seafood obtained through cultural subsistence, or recreational fishing, because of reliance on fish from location that may pose a greater risk.
In contrast to heavy metal contaminants and POPs, the number of reported illness from seafood-borne microbial contaminants has remained steady over the past several decades.
Exposure to vibrio ad norovirus infection is still, a concern, however, because they continue to be associated with consumption of raw molluscan shellfish.
Strategies for minimizing the risk of seafood-borne illness are, to some extent, hazard-specific, but overall include avoiding types of seafood identified as being more likely to contain certain contaminants, and following general food safety guidelines, which include proper cooking.
Risks Associated With Seafood
