A report has been published from Matís ohf. which is called Undesirable substances in seafood products - results from the monitoring activities in 2006. The report shows the results of measurements of the amount of toxic pollutants in Icelandic seafood in 2006 and is part of a continuous monitoring project funded by the Ministry of Fisheries and has been ongoing since 2003. As in previous years of monitoring, the results of 2006 show that an edible part of fish caught in Icelandic waters contains very small amounts of organic pollutants such as dioxins, dioxin-like PCBs and pesticides (insecticides and plant toxins), compared to the maximums recognized by European countries.
The data collected year after year in this project is used to build an increasingly accurate database on the state of Icelandic marine products with regard to pollutants. The report is in English and is accessible on Matís' website so that it can be used by producers, exporters, the government and others to promote the safety and wholesomeness of Icelandic fish products.
This report contains a more detailed assessment of heavy metals and a number of other inorganic trace elements in edible parts of fish than has previously been done in Iceland, but Matís has developed more advanced equipment for such measurements than before. With this equipment, so-called ICP-MS, it is possible in a relatively simple way to detect a large number of inorganic trace elements with greater accuracy than before. The results of heavy metal measurements show that the edible part of the fish was always far below the EU maximum permitted levels for lead, mercury and cadmium. The results of measurements of the inorganic substances classified as essential trace elements in human food will be used in Matís 'nutrient database, ISGEM, which is accessible on Matís' website, but also to assess the value of fish products as a source of such substances in Icelandic food. As in previous years of monitoring, the results for 2006 show that the edible part of fish caught in Icelandic waters contains very small amounts of organic pollutants such as dioxins, dioxin-like PCBs and pesticides (insecticides and plant toxins), compared to the limits set by European countries.
The results of measurements of fishmeal and fish oil for feed preparation confirm the need to closely monitor the levels of persistent organic pollutants such as dioxins, PCBs and pesticides in these products in the spring. The concentration of the substances depends on the nutritional status of the pelagic fish stocks from which the products are processed and reaches its peak during the spawning season. The levels of dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs as well as individual pesticides stop exceeding the EU's permitted levels. This is especially true of blue whiting products from the west and north of Scotland.
The author of the report is Ásta Margrét Ásmundsdóttir, project manager.