Mercury toxic cetacean meat in Korean markets

Contamination level of mercury in red meat products from cetaceans available from South Korea markets

Tetsuya Endo, Ma Yong-Un, C. Scott Baker, Naoko Funahashi, Shane Lavery,
Merel L. Dalebout, Vimoksalehi Lukoschek, Koichi Haraguchi

Marine Pollution Bulletin 54 (2007) 669–677

Abstract
Levels of total mercury (T-Hg) were surveyed in red meat (n = 73) and liver (n = 3) from toothed whales, dolphins and porpoises (odontocetes) sold for human consumption in the coastal cities of South Korea. High concentrations of T-Hg were found in the liver
products of finless porpoises (18.7 and 156 lg/wet g) and common dolphins (13.2 lg/wet g). The T-Hg concentrations in red meat products were highest in the false killer whale (9.66 ± 12.3 lg/wet g, n = 9), bottlenose dolphin (10.6 ± 12.6 lg/wet g, n = 3) and killer whale (13.3 lg/wet g, n = 1), and lowest in Cuvier’s beaked whale and the harbour porpoise (0.4–0.5 lg/wet g). Thus, most of the products that originated from odontocetes exceeded the safety limit of 0.5 lg/wet g for T-Hg set by the South Korean health authorities for the fishery industry. Pregnant women and other vulnerable sectors of the population living in South Korea should therefore limit their consumption of odontocete products.