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Mercury, selenium and fish oils in marine food webs and implications for human health
Gribble, M.O.; Karimi, R.; Feingold, B.J.; Nyland, J.F.; O'Hara, T.M.; Gladyshev, M.I.; Chen, C.Y. (2016). Mercury, selenium and fish oils in marine food webs and implications for human health. J. Mar. Biol. Ass. U.K. 96(1): 43-59. https://hdl.handle.net/10.1017/S0025315415001356
In: Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. Cambridge University Press/Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom: Cambridge. ISSN 0025-3154; e-ISSN 1469-7769
Related to:
Thorndyke, M.; McGowan, F.; Fleming, L.; Solo-Gabriele, H. (Ed.) (2016). Oceans and Human Health. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 96(1). Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. 216 pp., more
Peer reviewed article  
Available in  Authors 
    Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee: Open access 283831 [ download pdf ]
Keywords
    Chemical elements > Metals > Heavy metals > Mercury
    Chemical elements > Metals > Heavy metals > Selenium
    Docosahexaenoic acid
    Eicosapentaenoic acid
    Health and safety > Public health
    Products > Fishery products > Processed fishery products > Fish oils
    Toxicology > Ecotoxicology
    Marine/Coastal
Author keywords
    Oceans and human health; OHH; n-3 fatty acids
Authors  Top 
  • Gribble, M.O.
  • Karimi, R.
  • Feingold, B.J.
  • Nyland, J.F.
  • O'Hara, T.M.
  • Gladyshev, M.I.
  • Chen, C.Y.
Abstract
    Humans who eat fish are exposed to mixtures of healthful nutrients and harmful contaminants that are influenced by environmental and ecological factors. Marine fisheries are composed of a multitude of species with varying life histories, and harvested in oceans, coastal waters and estuaries where environmental and ecological conditions determine fish exposure to both nutrients and contaminants. Many of these nutrients and contaminants are thought to influence similar health outcomes (i.e., neurological, cardiovascular, immunological systems). Therefore, our understanding of the risks and benefits of consuming seafood require balanced assessments of contaminants and nutrients found in fish and shellfish. In this paper, we review some of the reported benefits of fish consumption with a focus on the potential hazards of mercury exposure, and compare the environmental variability of fish oils, selenium and mercury in fish. A major scientific gap identified is that fish tissue concentrations are rarely measured for both contaminants and nutrients across a range of species and geographic regions. Interpreting the implications of seafood for human health will require a better understanding of these multiple exposures, particularly as environmental conditions in the oceans change.
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