Mercury (Hg) Levels in the Caspian Sea Kilka Fish: A Communication

The Caspian Sea is a unique aquatic ecosystem, as it is the largest lake in the world. Unfortunately, human activities, such as the offshore oil production and chlor-alkali industry, are continuously contaminating the Caspian Sea. The environmental health issue of mercury (Hg) poisoning caused by Hg-contaminated fish has concerned some experts about the safety of fish consumption by the human populations of the Caspian Sea region. In the present study, the Hg levels in three Iran-produced canned common kilka samples of identical commercial composition were determined. The Hg levels in the studied fish samples were found to be in the range 0.00655 +/- 0.00007mg/kg. The results were compared to a number of regulatory limits. According to the results, the fish individuals included in the very limited set of randomly selected Caspian Sea kilka fish in this study are low in Hg, and, from the perspective of Hg contamination, they should be fit for human consumption. It is not known how representative this limited sampling is for all the Caspian Sea kilka fish population, and more studies are needed in this respect.