Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Food Control journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foodcont Mercury contents in commercial Billfsh species of the Western Central Atlantic: Assessing the potential risks to human health of Billfsh consumption Laura Bille a,∗ , Stefania Crovato a , Amedeo Manfrin a , Manuela Dalla Pozza a , Marica Toson a , Eleonora Franzago a , Anna Pinto a , Giulia Mascarello a , Orietta Muzzolon a , Federica Tosi a , Gianluigi Negroni b , Gualberto Cappi b , Pablo Obregon c , Licia Ravarotto a , Giovanni Binato a a Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, Viale dell'Università 10, Legnaro, Padua, 35020, Italy b Cooperativa Alveo, Via Siepelunga 12, Bologna, 40137, Italy c Center for Oceans, Conservation International, 2011 Crystal Drive Suite 500, Arlington, VA, 22202, USA ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Marlin Istiophorus platypterus Makaira nigricans Kajikia albida Mercury Caribbean ABSTRACT Purpose of the present study was to evaluate the total Hg (THg) level in Billfsh caught in the Western Central Atlantic and to assess the potential health consequences due to consumption for people living in Grenada (GR) and in the Dominican Republic (DR). Consumption data were collected through the administration of an online questionnaire and THg was measured in samples of Atlantic sailfsh (Istiophorus platypterus, n = 38), Blue Marlin (Makaira nigricans, n = 62) and White marlin (Kajikia albida, n = 45) collected at the main fsh landing point in GR and in DR. The potential health risk for diferent consumer groups was evaluated by calculating the estimated metal weekly intake rate (MWIR; μg kg −1 body weight), that was compared to the provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) for methylmercury (MeHg), and the total hazard quotient (THQ). A conservative approach was applied considering that THg was detected in its more toxic form, i.e. MeHg. The following levels of THg values were detected: Blue Marlin (0.09–6.23mgkg −1 ), White Marlin (0.05–3.21mgkg −1 ) and Atlantic sailfsh (0.03–0.64 mg kg −1 ). For average consumers, the estimated MWIR minimally contributed to the PTWI and the THQ values turned out to be far below 1 in both the studied countries. Diferently, the results regarding high consumers (95 percentile) raised some concerns. 1. Introduction Mercury (Hg) is a globally distributed pollutant that can be found in the environment in several forms such as elemental, inorganic and or- ganic compounds (Drescher, Dewailly, Sandy, & Forde, 2014; Drevnick & Brooks, 2017). It is a naturally occurring element, which is released through natural sources, such as volcanic activity, weathering of rocks, geologic deposits, volatilization from the ocean (Kim, Kabir, & Jahan, 2016) and also through human activities such as coal burning, mining and other industrial activities (Chen, Driscoll, Lambert, Mason, & Sunderland, 2016; Drescher et al., 2014; Drevnick & Brooks, 2017; Kim et al., 2016). Because of the signifcant increase of anthropogenic re- lease of Hg into the environment over the past century, the UN En- vironmental Program led 128 countries to negotiate and sign the 2013 Minamata Convention, a legally binding agreement aimed at regulating the emission levels of Hg and the release of related compounds into land and water, so as to protect humans and ecosystem health (United Nations Environment Programme, 2015). Atmospheric Hg inputs from global emissions are the main pathway for Hg to enter the “open ocean” environment (Kim et al., 2016). Once inorganic Hg has entered in the aquatic environment, it can be trans- formed by anaerobic organisms, mainly benthic bacteria, into its or- ganic and more toxic form known as methylmercury (MeHg) (Drescher et al., 2014; Drevnick & Brooks, 2017; Kim et al., 2016; Tong et al., 2017). Marine ecosystems are therefore considered critical environ- ments for Hg contamination (Chen et al., 2016). In humans, MeHg toxicity has been known to damage the central nervous system, especially during fetal development. Based on a series of epidemiological studies on the relationship between exposure to MeHg in mothers and subsequent neurological development defects in children, the FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) set a provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) for MeHg of 1.60 μg kg −1 of body weight https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2019.107002 Received 2 August 2019; Received in revised form 21 October 2019; Accepted 11 November 2019 ∗ Corresponding author. E-mail address: lbille@izsvenezie.it (L. Bille). Food Control 110 (2020) 107002 Available online 12 November 2019 0956-7135/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. T