Methylmercury Content of Lake Superior Fish

Abstract

Food contaminants have become an important issue in developing sustaif able resource harvests for interst State departments of health have determined that game fish from Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan wa unlimited quantities. Due to mercury contamination, state specific restri! t ions have been developed limitir lakes to, at most, one meal per week for developing young children and r others to be. More restrictive a, having excessive concentrations of mercury, PCBs, and dioxin. The FDl restricts food commerce betwet ppm methylmercury in fish. Methylmercury is the most toxic form of mercury found in fish and is respons humans who consume quantities in excess of known effect thresholds. I

The purpose of this study is to determine the levels of methylmercury prJsent in selected fish from a large, Superior fish, and to determine if processing by smoking affects the leve1s of mercury.