Absorption and Retention of Organic Mercurials by Rainbow Trout and Chinook and Sockeye Salmon

Abstract

The Food and Drug Administration has established zero tolerance for mercury in foodstuffs because of its potential hazard to human health. This limit may be modified if further studies indicate permissible levels. These experiments indicate that mercurials used as therapeutics and prophylactics for fish diseases can be absorbed and retained by fish for prolonged periods, and that legal-size wild fish may ingest enough mercury-contaminated fingerlings to accumulate relatively high levels of mercury. Therefore, legal-size hatchery fish treated with mercurials or wild fish that have eaten mercury-contaminated fingerlings may be a public health hazard. 6 tables.