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Methylmercury in Fish from the Amazon Region—a Review Focused on Eating Habits

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Abstract

Fish are an important food and economic source in the Amazon region. However, several researches report high levels of mercury, mainly methylmercury (MeHg), in these animals. MeHg is capable of biomagnifying in the ecosystem and negatively affect human health. Amazon region is recognized for its great diversity of fish species and high daily consumption of fish, extremely vulnerable to the toxic effects of MeHg. Therefore, this study aimed to carried out a systematic review on MeHg in Amazon fishes by their eating habits and estimate the human exposure of MeHg by fish consumption. The search was carried out according to registered search protocol in the electronic databases PubMed/Medline and Web of Science. After screening selection, only five studies were included in this review. Carnivore/piscivore fishes showed the highest concentrations of MeHg (0.51±0.37 mg kg−1), followed by planktivores/iliophages (0.45±0.32 mg kg−1). Herbivore fish have the lowest MeHg concentration (0.11±0.09 mg kg−1). Both indexes (estimated weekly intake-EWI and provisional tolerable weekly intake-PTWI) were higher among women. EWI/PTWI ratio was higher than 1 for all eating habits, suggesting a risk to MeHg associated with the consumption of fish in the region, with higher rates in carnivorous/piscivorous fish, which may cause serious health problems to Amazon population. Thus, it is necessary to establish public politics to minimize exposure to MeHg in this region and to guarantee food and nutritional security.

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Data Availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, CAPES, for the Doctoral scholarships (JOP and MS) and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, for undergraduate scholarship.

Funding

This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brasil (CAPES) - Finance Code 001 and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico – Grant 310856/2020-5.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratório de Ensaios Farmacológicos e Toxicológicos, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande, Rio Grande, Brazil

    Thaís Casarin Gimenes, Julia Oliveira Penteado, Marina dos Santos & Flavio Manoel Rodrigues da Silva Júnior

  2. Programa de Pós-graduação em Ciências Da Saúde, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande, Rio Grande, Brazil

    Julia Oliveira Penteado, Marina dos Santos & Flavio Manoel Rodrigues da Silva Júnior

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  1. Thaís Casarin Gimenes
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  2. Julia Oliveira Penteado
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  3. Marina dos Santos
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  4. Flavio Manoel Rodrigues da Silva Júnior
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Contributions

TCG and JOP were responsible for searching for the articles, preparing the database, extracting the data, and writing the manuscript. MS was responsible for data analysis and review of the manuscript. FMRSJ was the research advisor and was responsible for revising the text. All authors were responsible for analyzing and interpreting the data and writing the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Flavio Manoel Rodrigues da Silva Júnior.

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Gimenes, T.C., Penteado, J.O., dos Santos, M. et al. Methylmercury in Fish from the Amazon Region—a Review Focused on Eating Habits. Water Air Soil Pollut 232, 199 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-021-05151-x

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