Mercury concentration in shark meat from traditional markets of Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea

Han Cheol Heo; Yeon Hee Lim; Young Seok Byun; Joon Sakong

doi:10.35371/aoem.2020.32.e3

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Heo, Lim, Byun, and Sakong: Mercury concentration in shark meat from traditional markets of Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea

Research Article

Ann Occup Environ Med 2020;32(1):e3.

Published online: 4 January 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.35371/aoem.2020.32.e3

Mercury concentration in shark meat from traditional markets of Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea

Han Cheol Heo¹, Yeon Hee Lim², Young Seok Byun¹, Joon Sakong^1,^3,^*

¹Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Yeungnam University Hospital, Daegu, Korea

²Graduate School of Environment & Public Health Studies, Yeungnam University, Daegu, Korea

³Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, College of Medicine, Yeungnam University, Daegu, Korea

^*Correspondence: Joon Sakong Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, College of Medicine, Yeungnam University, 170 Hyeonchung-ro, Nam-gu, Daegu 42415, Korea. E-mail: jjsakong@gmail.com

Revised 20 September 2019 Accepted 2 December 2019

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Background

Although unusually high levels of blood mercury have been reported in the North Gyeongsang Province (Gyeongsangbuk-do), mercury contents from shark meat distributed in this region have not been assessed yet. Thus, this study aims to identify the hazard by evaluating the mercury contents of the shark meat sold in the traditional market of Gyeongsangbuk-do.

Methods

The shark meat in the form of muscle meat was obtained from 15 traditional markets of Gyeongsangbuk-do in the summer and winter of 2013. Out of 105 samples in total, 49 were collected in the summer and 56 in the winter. The total mercury concentration was measured by the combustion-gold amalgamation method using an automatic mercury analyzer (Milestone DMA-80, Milestone).

Results

The average mercury concentration of shark meat was 2.29 ± 1.77 µg/g, ranging between 0.06–8.93 µg/g with a geometric mean of 1.44 µg/g, which is higher than those reported in many countries. The mercury concentration in 77 of 105 shark meat samples exceeded 1 µg/g. Mercury concentration ranged between 0.09–8.93 µg/g (geometric mean: 1.45) in the summer and 0.06–6.73 µg/g (geometric mean: 1.48) in the winter.

Conclusions

Shark meat sold in the market contained a substantial amount of mercury. This suggests that it is difficult to reduce mercury intake by simply strengthening the standard level of mercury concentration in shark meat. Therefore, it is need to communication and awareness programs with consumers about hazardous effects of mercury inherent in shark meat.

Keywords: Mercury exposure, Shark meat intake, Jesa, Traditional market, South Korea

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Fig. 1.

Sample survey area [11].

Table 1.

Summary of mercury concentration (µg/g) in shark meat sold in Gyeongsangbuk-do

Region	No. of samples	Season	Mean ± standard deviation	Geometric mean	Minimum	Maximum	p-value ^a
Daegu	3	Summer	2.51 ± 2.76	1.41	0.31	5.60	1.00
	3	Winter	1.38 ± 0.72	1.24	0.68	2.11
Gyeongsan	3	Summer	1.31 ± 0.74	1.15	0.54	2.02	0.20
	3	Winter	0.35 ± 0.23	0.30	0.17	0.61
Gyeongju	2	Summer	2.58 ± 0.95	2.48	1.90	3.25	1.00
	3	Winter	3.10 ± 1.92	2.75	1.70	5.28
Gunwi	3	Summer	3.08 ± 1.98	2.43	0.81	4.45	0.70
	3	Winter	1.53 ± 0.53	1.46	0.94	1.95
Bonghwa	2	Summer	2.65 ± 0.67	2.58	2.13	3.13	0.80
	3	Winter	2.82 ± 1.73	2.52	1.69	4.81
Andong	3	Summer	0.34 ± 0.37	0.22	0.09	0.76	0.10
	3	Winter	1.96 ± 0.65	1.89	1.53	2.71
Yeongdeok	1	Summer	6.00 ± 0.00	6.00	6.00	6.00	0.40
	4	Winter	2.30 ± 0.42	2.27	1.75	2.77
Yeongyang	3	Summer	2.09 ± 2.09	1.04	0.14	4.29	0.40
	3	Winter	3.41 ± 1.62	3.16	1.99	5.17
Yeongju	2	Summer	1.11 ± 0.34	1.08	0.87	1.35	0.20
	3	Winter	4.04 ± 2.34	3.44	1.45	6.01
Yeongcheon	15	Summer	3.11 ± 2.14	2.53	0.63	8.93	0.713
	15	Winter	2.65 ± 1.64	1.78	0.06	5.63
Yecheon	1	Summer	3.45 ± 0.00	3.45	3.45	3.45	1.00
	2	Winter	3.94 ± 3.95	2.77	1.14	6.73
Uiseong	2	Summer	0.76 ± 0.86	0.45	0.15	1.37	0.333
	2	Winter	2.10 ± 0.47	2.07	1.76	2.43
Cheongdo	3	Summer	0.12 ± 0.05	0.12	0.09	0.18	0.40
	3	Winter	0.23 ± 0.16	0.19	0.09	0.40
Cheongsong	3	Summer	1.94 ± 1.98	1.23	0.34	4.15	1.00
	3	Winter	1.91 ± 1.79	1.18	0.26	3.82
Pohang	3	Summer	1.29 ± 1.76	0.53	0.10	3.31	0.40
	3	Winter	2.86 ± 0.55	2.82	2.28	3.37
Total	49	Summer	2.21 ± 1.94	1.45	0.09	8.93	0.681
	56	Winter	2.35 ± 1.63	1.48	0.06	6.73
	105		2.29 ± 1.77	1.44	0.06	8.93

^a Mann-Whitney U test or independent-samples t-test.

Table 2.

Distribution of mercury concentration in shark meat sold in Gyeongsangbuk-do

Mercury concentration (µg/g)	Summer	Winter	Total	p-value ^a
< 0.50	11 (22.4)	8 (14.3)	19 (18.1)	0.203
0.50–0.99	6 (12.2)	3 (5.4)	9 (8.6)	0.182
1.00–1.49	4 (8.2)	5 (8.9)	9 (8.6)	0.585
1.50–1.99	7 (14.3)	13 (23.2)	20 (19.0)	0.181
2.00–2.49	4 (8.2)	6 (10.7)	10 (9.5)	0.459
2.50–2.99	1 (2.0)	6 (10.7)	7 (6.7)	0.080
3.00–3.49	5 (10.2)	3 (5.4)	8 (7.6)	0.286
3.50–3.99	2 (4.1)	3 (5.4)	5 (4.8)	0.564
4.00–4.49	3 (6.1)	1 (1.8)	4 (3.8)	0.260
4.50–4.99	2 (4.1)	3 (5.4)	5 (4.8)	0.564
≥ 5.00	4 (8.2)	5 (8.9)	9 (8.6)	0.585
Total	49 (100.0)	56 (100.0)	105 (100.0)

Data shown are number of samples (%).

^a Mann-Whitney U test.

Table 3.

Mercury concentration in shark meat compared to that of other studies

Author	Year	Country	No. of samples	Mean ± standard deviation	Species	t	p-value ^a
U.S. FDA [24]	2017	United States	356	0.98 ± 0.63	Shark ^b	7.4534	< 0.001
King et al. [25]	2010	United States	5	0.71 ± 0.68	Shark ^b	4.5415	< 0.05
Endo et al. [26]	2008	Japan	42	0.78 ± 0.29	Tiger shark	8.4624	< 0.001
			8	1.80 ± 0.45	Silvertip shark	2.0865	< 0.05
de Carvalho et al. [27]	2014	Brazil	27	1.12 ± 0.57	Blue shark	5.7178	< 0.001
Biton-Porsmoguer et al. [28]	2018	Spain	40	0.52 ± 0.35	Blue shark	9.7584	< 0.001
			48	0.74 ± 0.56	Shortfin mako	8.1275	< 0.001

Values were compared to 2.29 ± 1.77 µg/g from 105 samples of this study. FDA: Food and Drug Administration.

^a Welch modified t-test;

^b otherwise unspecified.

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