• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.353-359
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• 2007

This survey was carried out to estimate the heavy metal contents of fishes (531 ocean fishes and 80 freshwater fishes) sold in and around Korea from April to October in 2006 . The contents of arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn) and mercury (Hg) were estimated by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and a mercury analyzer. The concentrations [mean (minimum-maximum) mg/kg] of heavy metals in the ocean fishes were as follows: As=2.523 (0.140-65.543), Cd=0.017 (0.000-0.108), Cu=0.569 (0.040-5.634), Pb=0.023 (0.000-0.323), Hg=0.068 (0.002-0.754), Mn=0.395 (0.016-4.651) and Zn=6.086 (0.529-34.729). The concentrations of heavy metals in the freshwater fishes were: As=0.370 (0.024-2.231), Cd=0.01l (ND-0.086), Cu=0.628 (0.003-1.962), Pb=0.026 (ND-0.423), Hg=0.058 (0.006-0.349), Mn=1.150 (0.069-7.230) and Zn=9.980 (3.463-82.737). The weekly intakes of Cd, Hg and Pb from fish were 0.9, 1.6 and 0.9%, respectively, as compared with the Provisional Tolerable Weekly Intake (PTWl) established by Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee for food safety evaluation.