RESULTS FOR SEAFOOD

This page shows some of the main results from the analysis of trace constituents in Icelandic seafood. Some of them may be naturally occurring but they are considered to be contaminants above certain levels. Others are man-made and hence classified as pollutants These results are reported in the AMSUM group reports ( available in Icelandic) and in reports of the Icelandic Fisheries Laboratories.

Heavy metals
The results for heavy metals in some seafood species are shown in the following table. They were obtained in 1994-96 by the Icelandic Fisheries Labs. for the AMSUM group and in co-operative research work of various institutes. They are derived from a large number of analyses of fish and shellfish of different sizes. The data is based on wet weight.

Trace Metal	Cod fillets	Haddock fillets	Lemon sole	Northern shrimp	Norway lobster tails	Atlantic salmon
Lead Pb g/kg	<10	<10	<10	<10	<10	<10
Cadmium Cd g/kg	0.3-2.0	0.3-0.4	1.6	5.0-10.8	10.6-16.4	0.6
Mercury Hg g/kg	14-40	25-43	119	6-58	56-100	57

The 1999 AMSUM report shows the following results for 30-45 cm cod (wet weight).

Trace metal	Fillet a)	Liver b)
Lead Pb g/kg	6	50
Cadmium Cd g/kg	0.7	114
Copper Cu mg/kg	0.23	3.4
Arsen As mg/kg	4.0	3.7
Mercury Hg g/kg	25

a) based on results in 1994-96, b) averages for 1990-96

For comparison, the FAO and EU limits are shown in the next table. The range indicates standards for different products.

Trace metal	FAO a)	EU b)
Lead Pb g/kg	500-10,000	200-2,000
Cadmium Cd g/kg	50-2,000	50-1,000
Mercury g/kg	100-1,000	500-1,000

a) FAO Fisheries Circular No.764/825, b) EU Regulation 93/351 and 99/draft (EU ENTR/5799/99-rev 1 - EN)

Heavy metals in marine life in Icelandic waters are in most instances found to occur at very low levels if at all detectable. Cadmium has sometimes been found to be rather high in liver and other internal organs but not in fish flesh. This is thought to be due to natural sources as opposed to man-made effects.

Radioactive traces
The radionuclide Cs-137 is most often used for assessment of radioactivity in living organisms. It is a product of nuclear tests and nuclear power plants and tends to accumulate in marine life. The following table shows the traces found in Icelandic cod, herring and dab flesh and some results for North Sea fish for comparson (all on basis of wet weight).

a) Icelandic data based on 1989-92 analysis, b) North Sea data based on 1989-91 analysis.

It is concluded that radionuclides occur at much lower levels in Icelandic waters than in the North Sea and further south in the Atlantic Ocean. The traces found in Icelandic waters are lower than 1/1000th of the limits set internationally.

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs)
This large group of compounds in the environment is mostly due to man's activities. Some of them are detectable in marine life off Iceland. Results of some analyses are shown in the following table. All results are based on wet weight and some results for the North Sea are shown for comparison.

	Cod liver g/kg	Herring flesh g/kg	Dab liver g/kg
Group of 7 PCBs*
Iceland 1989-92	64-117	3-9	19-58
North Sea 1989	260-560	20-100
HCB
Iceland 1989-92	13-38	1-2	5-10
North Sea 1989	28
p,p-DDE
Iceland 1989-92	43-75	3-9	12-54
North Sea 1989	160

* CB 28, 52, 101, 118, 153, 138, 180

Further and extended analysis in cod liver and cod flesh in 1994-96 has shown levels of 15 components of PCBs, HCB and DDT derivatives to be very low in liver and in most instances below detection limits in cod flesh. In all instances the levels are far below the levels set in some marketing countries.

Dioxins
Dioxins are a large group of persistent and extremely toxic chemicals issuing from industrial activities and of natural origin, such as forest fires. They have been under scrutiny in recent years due to their toxicity. They are highly lipid soluble and therefore tend to accumulate in fat tissues.

Analysis of 17 dioxin congeners in a range of seafood from Icelandic waters has recently been completed. This was carried out in order to determine whether dioxin pollution occurred to such an extent in Icelandic seafood produce as to render it unfit or suspect for human consumption in view of current discussion on possible international standards for dioxin. No such standards have yet been agreed on since scientific knowledge on the occurrence of dioxin in food is limited. Measurement of these toxic constituents is very costly due to their occurrence at extremely low concentrations and is feasible in only the best equipped analytical laboratories. The overall results for the analysis of dioxin congeners in seafood are shown in the following table. The figures are presented as the measured range of weighted sums of the 17 dioxin congeners. The figures for dioxin are shown as pg (picograms) per g of fat in the tissue analysed, expressed as international toxic equivalents (i-TEQ) and as the WHO 1998 toxic equivalents.

Sample	No. of samples	pg i.-TEQ / g fat	pg WHO (98)-TEQ / g fat
Cod muscle	3	0.2 - 2.2	0.2 - 2.2
Dab liver	11	2.3 - 6.6	2.5 - 7.1
Mussel tissue	5	2.6 - 6.8	2.6 - 6.8
Whole herring	3	1.4 - 20.6	1.4 - 23.0
Whole capelin	2	1.1 - 1.8	1.2 - 2.3
Whole blue whiting	1	3.8	4.3

WHO considers a tolerable daily intake of dioxin to be 1 - 4 pg / kg body weight but has proposed that this should be decreased to 1 pg / kg / body weight. It can be concluded that the results for Icelandic seafood do not suggest the presence of dioxin beyond the values normally found in North Atlantic seafood and they do not indicate that the safety of Icelandic seafood is compromised. A group of toxic substances, variously known as dioxin-like PCB's or planar PCB's have been analysed in the same samples. The results are expressed in a similar way, either as toxic equivalents according to the international definition or according to the WHO definition. The results were the following.

Sample	No. of samples	pg i.-TEQ / g fat	pg WHO (98)-TEQ / g fat
Cod muscle	3	3.1 - 8.5	3.1 - 8.5
Dab liver	11	5.3 - 21.5	5.2 - 21.4
Mussel tissue	5	3.3 - 21.4	3.3 - 21.1
Whole herring	3	1.5 - 14.9	1.5 - 14.8
Whole capelin	2	1.6	1.5 - 1.6
Whole blue whiting	1	7.3	7.2

Little is known about the occurrence of these substances in seafood in general and no international standards have yet been proposed.