Mercury in Fish - Levels of Contamination

Levels of Contamination


species	Mean (ppm)	Std dev (ppm)	Median (ppm)	Comment	Trophic level	Max age (years)
Tilefish (Gulf of Mexico)	1.450	n/a	n/a		3.6	35
Swordfish	0.995	0.539	0.870		4.5	15
Shark	0.979	0.626	0.811
Mackerel (king)	0.730	n/a	n/a		4.5	14
Tuna (bigeye)	0.689	0.341	0.560	Fresh/frozen	4.5	11
Orange roughy	0.571	0.183	0.562		4.3	149
Marlin *	0.485	0.237	0.390		4.5
Mackerel (Spanish)	0.454	n/a	n/a	Gulf of Mexico	4.5	5
Grouper	0.448	0.278	0.399	All species	4.2
Tuna	0.391	0.266	0.340	All species, fresh/frozen
Bluefish	0.368	0.221	0.305		4.5	9
Sablefish	0.361	0.241	0.265		3.8	114
Tuna (albacore)	0.358	0.138	0.360	Fresh/frozen	4.3	9
Patagonian toothfish	0.354	0.299	0.303		4.0	50+
Tuna (yellowfin)	0.354	0.231	0.311	Fresh/frozen	4.3	9
Tuna (albacore)	0.350	0.128	0.338	Canned	4.3	9
Croaker white	0.287	0.069	0.280	Pacific	3.4
Halibut	0.241	0.225	0.188		4.3
Weakfish	0.235	0.216	0.157	Sea trout	3.8	17
Scorpionfish	0.233	0.139	0.181
Mackerel (Spanish)	0.182	n/a	n/a	South Atlantic	4.5
Monkfish	0.181	0.075	0.139		4.5	25
Snapper	0.166	0.244	0.113
Bass	0.152	0.201	0.084	Striped, black and sea bass	3.9
Perch	0.150	0.112	0.146	Freshwater	4.0
Tilefish (Atlantic)	0.144	0.122	0.099		3.6	35
Tuna (skipjack)	0.144	0.119	0.150	Fresh/frozen	3.8	12
Buffalofish	0.137	0.094	0.120
Skate	0.137	n/a	n/a
Tuna	0.128	0.135	0.078	All species, canned, light
Perch (ocean) *	0.121	0.125	0.102
Cod	0.111	0.152	0.066		3.9	22
Carp	0.110	0.099	0.134
Lobster (American)	0.107	0.076	0.086
Sheephead (California)	0.093	0.059	0.088
Lobster (spiny)	0.093	0.097	0.062
Whitefish	0.089	0.084	0.067
Mackerel (chub)	0.088	n/a	n/a	Pacific	3.1
Herring	0.084	0.128	0.048		3.2	21
Jacksmelt	0.081	0.103	0.050		3.1
Hake	0.079	0.064	0.067		4.0
Trout	0.071	0.141	0.025	Freshwater
Crab	0.065	0.096	0.050	Blue, king and snow crab
Butterfish	0.058	n/a	n/a		3.5
Flatfish *	0.056	0.045	0.050	Flounder, plaice and sole
Haddock	0.055	0.033	0.049	Atlantic
Whiting	0.051	0.030	0.052
Mackerel (Atlantic)	0.050	n/a	n/a
Croaker (Atlantic)	0.065	0.050	0.061
Mullet	0.050	0.078	0.014
Shad (American)	0.039	0.045	0.045
Crawfish	0.035	0.033	0.012
Pollock	0.031	0.089	0.003
Catfish	0.025	0.057	0.005		3.9	24
Squid	0.023	0.022	0.016
Salmon *	0.022	0.034	0.015	Fresh/frozen
Anchovies	0.017	0.015	0.014		3.1
Sardine	0.013	0.015	0.010		2.7
Tilapia *	0.013	0.023	0.004
Oyster	0.012	0.035	n/d
Clam *	0.009	0.011	0.002
Salmon *	0.008	0.017	n/d	Canned
Scallop	0.003	0.007	n/d
Shrimp *	0.001	0.013	0.009			6.5

U.S. government scientists tested fish in 291 streams around the country for mercury contamination. They found mercury in every fish tested, according to the study by the U.S. Department of the Interior. They found mercury even in fish of isolated rural waterways. Twenty five percent of the fish tested had mercury levels above the safety levels determined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for people who eat the fish regularly.

Read more about this topic: Mercury In Fish

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