Resumen de La nostra salut està ancorada en la de la mar
Joan O. Grimalt, Marco Capodiferro, Eva Junqué Martínez, Mercè Garí
This paper shows that marine pollution has a very large impact on the humaningestion of toxic substances. Specifically, we studied the main hydrophobic pollutantsin the diet of the people of Menorca. A statistically significant association has beenobserved between a greater consumption of fish and shellfish, and higher concentrationsof mercury in the hair of Menorcan 4-year-old boys and girls. Ninety-three per cent oftheir mercury ingestion comes from the consumption of these food products. Thisrelation is consistent with the higher concentration of this metal in the fish and shellfishin areas lying near this island in comparison to the concentrations found in other seasand oceans. A significant association has also been observed between fish consumptionand the accumulation of 4,4’-DDT in the serum of these boys and girls. Theconsumption of meat also contributes to the accumulation of this pesticide. Theincorporation of organochlorine pollutants lies below the FAO/WHO recommendations,but the boys’ and girls’ mercury ingestion more than doubles the EFSA standards.Considering the importance of fish consumption in the ingestion of pollutants bythe children of Menorca, mainly with respect to mercury, an in-depth study has beenconducted on the concentrations of this metal in fish meant for human consumption inthe Balearic Islands, Alghero and Alicante (836 specimens). Generally speaking, ahigher pollution was observed in the specimens from the Balearic Islands, although thelevels in the specimens from Alghero were higher in some cases, depending on thespecies. The specimens from Alicante showed the lowest concentrations. The averagemercury values of the specimens of greater forkbeard, thornback ray, tope shark,langoustine, prawn, porbeagle, dusky grouper, and common dentex collected in theBalearic Islands were higher than the reference limits published by the European Unionfor human consumption. In the other areas under study, no species were found withaverage mercury values higher than these reference levels.
