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. 2020 Nov 23;9(11):1720.
doi: 10.3390/foods9111720.

Heavy Metals Contamination in Shellfish: Benefit-Risk Evaluation in Central Italy

Francesca Barchiesi  1 , Raffaella Branciari  2 , Mario Latini  1 , Rossana Roila  2 , Giuseppe Lediani  3 , Giovanni Filippini  1 , Giampiero Scortichini  1 , Arianna Piersanti  1 , Elena Rocchegiani  1 , David Ranucci  2
Affiliations

Heavy Metals Contamination in Shellfish: Benefit-Risk Evaluation in Central Italy

Francesca Barchiesi et al. Foods. .

Abstract

Seafood is a source of nutrients in human diet but also of environmental contaminants and its consumption could pose a risk to consumers' health. A survey regarding the exposure to cadmium, lead and mercury through the consumption of bivalve mollusks, gastropods and sea urchins collected on Italian coasts was carried out among central Italian population over a period of three years. A limited number of samples exceeds the threshold set by legislation (6 samples) and the average level of contamination was low in all the species considered. The contribution Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) was higher for cadmium (9.17%) than lead (1.44%) and mercury (0.20%). The benefit-risk evaluation suggests that the bivalve mollusks and sea urchins consumption (Benefit Risk Quotient < 1) could be increased without health detrimental effects.

Keywords: cadmium; dietary exposure; dietary intake; gastropods; lead; mercury; sea urchins; shellfish.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Italian coastline considered for the sampling collection.
Figure 2
Figure 2
EPA and DHA content in the selected seafood.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Contribution to the metals ADIs (%) of the selected seafood.
Figure 4
Figure 4
ADI contribution (%) in relation to geographical distribution of population.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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