Seafood ChoiCeS

Seafood Choices: Balancing Benefits and Risks
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11762.html
SEAFOOD ChOICES
consumers in general is a concern because there is uncertainty about the
potential for subtle adverse health outcomes. Since the most sensitive subgroup
of the population to MeHg exposure is the developing fetus, intake
recommendations are developed for and directed to the pregnant woman
rather than to the general population.
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs), including dioxins and PCBs, can
be found in the fatty tissue of all animal-derived foods, including seafood.
Exposure to these compounds among the general population has been decreasing
in recent decades. The greatest concern is for population groups
exposed to POPs in seafood obtained through cultural, subsistence, or
recreational fishing, because of reliance on fish from locations that may
pose a greater risk.
In contrast to heavy metal contaminants and POPs, the number of reported
illnesses from seafoodborne microbial contaminants has remained
steady over the past several decades. Exposure to ibrio and noro irus infections
is still a concern, however, because they continue to be associated with
consumption of raw molluscan shellfish. Strategies for minimizing the risk
of seafoodborne illnesses 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.
Primary Findings
1. Levels of contaminants in seafood depend on several factors, including
species, size, harvest location, age, and composition of feed. MeHg is
the seafoodborne contaminant for which the most exposure and toxicity
data are available; levels of MeHg in seafood have not changed substantially
in recent decades. Exposure to dioxins and PCBs varies by location and
vulnerable subgroups (e.g., some American Indian/Alaskan Native groups
living near contaminated waters) may be at increased risk. Microbial illness
from seafood is acute, persistent, and a potentially serious risk, although
incidence of illness has not increased in recent decades.
2. Considerable uncertainties are associated with estimates of the health
risks to the general population from exposures to methylmercury and persistent
organic pollutants at levels present in commercially obtained seafood.
The available evidence to assess risks to the US population is incomplete
and useful to only a limited extent.
3. Consumers are exposed to a complex mixture of dietary and nondietary
contaminants whereas most studies of risks associated with seafood
focus on a single contaminant.
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