Determination of Allowable Consumption Rate of important fish species in Anzali Wetland based on Mercury Content in muscle tissue

Balance between benefits and risks of fish consumption, today has become one of the most important public health issue. This is partly because of concerns about dangerous compounds such as PCBs and mercury contamination of fish. Fish Allowable Consumption Rate is used as a way to balance the risk of fish consuming with health benefits which are provided by a diet containing seafood. In present study, total mercury concentration in muscle of Pike (Esox lucius), Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio) and Perch (Sander lucioperca), were measured to determined the Allowable Consumption Rate and compare mercury level with threshold level proposed by EPA, WHO, FAO and FDA. For this purpose, 20 samples of each species in different sizes were caught from Anzali wetland in February 2011. After measuring length and weight of samples, the Mercury concentration was determined using an advance mercury analyzer according to ASTM D-6722. The average of mercury concentration in Pike, Common Carp and Perch was 334.47, 208.81 and 127.28 µg kg-1 wet weights respectively. Mercury in muscle of Pike was more than EPA threshold level (300 µg kg-1). A positive significant correlation was observed between mercury concentration and weight and length of fish (p<0.05). The Allowable Consumption Rate for consumers with different body weights was obtained using EPA methodology and shown that consumption of fish species, especially Pike, is associated with limitations.