Undesirable substances in seafood products– results from the monitoring activities in 2006
In 2003, at the initiative of the Ministry of Fisheries, monitoring of undesirable substances in marine products began, both products intended for human consumption and products of the fish oil and flour industry. The purpose of the monitoring is to assess the condition of Icelandic marine products with regard to the amount of contaminants. The data collected in the monitoring project will also be used in risk assessments and to influence the setting of maximum levels for undesirable substances, for example in Europe. Coverage of contaminants in marine products, both in the mainstream media and in scientific journals, has many times demanded the response of the Icelandic government. It is necessary to have scientific results available that demonstrate the actual condition of Icelandic seafood in order to prevent damage that may result from such coverage. Furthermore, the limits of contaminants are under constant review and it is important for Icelanders to participate in such a review and support their case with scientific data. This shows the importance of regular monitoring and that Iceland conducts independent research on such an important issue as marine product pollution. This report is a summary of the results of the monitoring in 2006. It is a long-term goal to assess the condition of Icelandic seafood in terms of the amount of undesirable substances. This goal can only be achieved through continuous monitoring for a long time. Each year, the monitoring is aimed at adding the most needed data and thus making the database more accurate and comprehensive with each passing year. in marine products intended for human consumption and in fishery and flour products.
This project was started in 2003 at the request of the Icelandic Ministry of Fisheries. Until then, monitoring of undesirable substances in the edible portion of marine catches had been rather limited in Iceland. The purpose of the project is to gather information and evaluate the status of Icelandic seafood products in terms of undesirable substances. The information will also be utilized for a risk assessment and the setting of maximum values that are now under consideration within the EU. This report summarizes the results obtained in 2006 for the monitoring of various undesirable substances in the edible part of marine catches, fish meal and fish oil for feed. This project began in 2003 and has now been carried out for four consecutive years. One of the goals of this annual monitoring program of various undesirable substances in seafood is to gather information on the status Icelandic seafood products in terms of undesirable substances, this is a long-term goal which can be reached through continuous monitoring by filling in the gaps of data available over many years. For this reason, we carefully select which undesirable substances are measured in the various seafood samples each year with the aim to eventually fill in the gaps in the available data over couple of year time. The results obtained in 2003, 2004 and 2005 have already been published and are accessible at the Matis website (IFL Report 06-04, IFL Report 33-05 and IFL Report 22-06, respectively). In 2006, data were collected on, polychlorinated dibenzodioxins and dibenzofurans (17 substances), dioxin-like PCBs (12 substances), marker PCBs (7 substances), 10 different types of pesticides, polybrominated flame retardants PBDE as well as trace elements and heavy metals.