- Reporter:
- UNEP/MAP/MED POL
- Geographical scale of the assessment:
- Regional, Mediterranean Sea
- Contributing countries:
- Contracting Parties by research studies
- Mid-Term Strategy (MTS) Core Theme:
- 1-Land and Sea Based Pollution
- Ecological Objective:
- EO9. Contaminants cause no significant impact on coastal and marine ecosystems and human health
- IMAP Common Indicator:
- CI20. Actual levels of contaminants that have been detected and number of contaminants which have exceeded maximum regulatory levels in commonly consumed seafood
- Indicator Assessment Factsheet Code:
- EO9CI20
GES Definition: Concentrations of contaminants are within the regulatory limits for consumption by humans
GES Targets:
- State: Concentrations of contaminants are within the regulatory limits set by legislation
Background
The human exposure to chemical contaminants through commercial fish and shellfish species (ca. fisheries and aquaculture, respectively) is one the main concerns with regard the occurrence of pollutants in the marine environment. Wild and farmed marine species are exposed to environmental chemical contaminants through different mechanisms and pathways according their trophic level, which include from filter feeding to predatory species (bivalves, crustaceans, fish, etc.). The understanding of the health risks to humans (maximum levels, intake, toxic equivalent factors, etc.), through the consumption of potentially contaminated seafood is a challenge and a priority policy issue for governments, as well as a major societal concern.
Assessment methods
The present assessment has been undertaken based on bibliographic studies and scientific documents in the Mediterranean Sea thus there are not yet representative MED POL datasets available for this Common Indicator 20. More, the assessment of the CI 20 will be based, tentatively, on the statistics about the number of detected contaminants and their deviations from legal permissions in commercial fish species set by national, European and international regulations within national jurisdictional areas. These areas will need to be further defined from a spatial scale perspective (i.e. limited by national jurisdiction boundaries, GFCM-FAO subdivisions, etc.) within IMAP.
Results and Status, including trends
With regard the content of chemical contaminants fish and shellfish, different research studies have been recently conducted in the Mediterranean Sea taking into account a number of legacy and emerging chemicals. At present, scattered datasets all along the Mediterranean sub-basins mostly from research studies are available with few assessments recently undertaken under European marine policy (e.g. the Descriptor 9 under EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive) by European Contracting Parties of the Barcelona Convention. Overall, no major significant concerns or extreme high levels were observed and no confirmation based on temporal trends have been performed yet. Future harmonization and data sharing will improve the assessment in the Mediterranean Sea at a regional scale for this CI 20.
Conclusions
At present, few research studies and EU policy driven reports (ca. MSFD) in some Mediterranean countries have investigated the occurrence of contaminants in seafood from an environmental perspective (ca. Ecosystem Approach), which are exceeding the maximum regulatory levels established within regulatory standards. Overall, from available studies, no major significant concerns or extreme high levels were observed within these recent research studies by different authors and no confirmation based on temporal trends have been performed yet.
Key messages
- Regular datasets are unavailable to perform an assessment of the Common Indicator 20.
- Chemical contaminants occurrence in fish and shellfish and the possible intake scenarios for population have been studied in different locations, including some of the FAO delimited zones in the Mediterranean Sea for a number of legacy and emerging contaminants within research studies.
References
Barone, G., Giacominelli, R., et al. (2014). PCBs and PCDD/PCDFs in fishery products: Occurrence, congener profile and compliance with European Union legislation. Food and Chemical Toxicology, 74, 200-205.
Brambilla, G., Abete, M.C., et al. (2013). Mercury occurrence in Italian seafood from the Mediterranean Sea and possible intake scenarios of the Italian coastal population.
Celik, U., OehlenSchläger, J. (2007). High contents of cadmium, lead, zinc and copper in popular fishery products sold in Turkish supermarkets. Food Control, 18, 258-261.
Chiesa, L.M., Labella, G.F., et al. (2016). Distribution of persistent organic pollutants (POPS) In wild Bluefin tuna (Thunnusthynnus) from different FAO capture zones. Chemosphere, 153, 162-16
Copat, C., Arena, G., et al. (2013). Heavy metals concentrations in fish and shellfish from eastern Mediterranean Sea: Consumption advisories. Food and Chemical Toxicology, 53, 33-37.
Copat, C., Vinceti, M. et al. (2014). Mercury and selenium intake by seafood from the Ionian Sea: A risk evaluation. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 100, 87-92.
Costopoulou, D., Vassiliadou, I., Leondiadis, L. (2016). PCDDs, PCDFs and PCBs in farmed fish produced in Greece: Levels and human population exposure assessment. Chemosphere, 146, 511-518.
Elhamri, H., Idrissi, L. (2007). Hair mercury levels in relation to fish consumption in a community of the Moroccan Mediterranean coast, Food Additives & Contaminants, 24:11, 1236-1246.
European Union (2006). Commission Regulation (EU) No 1881/2006 of 19 December 2006 setting maximum levels for certain contaminants in foodstuffs. L 364/5–23.
European Union, (2011). Commission Regulation (EU) No 1259/2011 of 2 December 2011 amending Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006 as regards maximum levels for dioxins, dioxin-like PCBs and non dioxin-like PCBs in foodstuffs. L 320/18–23.
FAO/WHO, 2011. Report of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on the Risks and Benefits of Fish Consumption. Rome, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; Geneva, World Health Organization, 50 pp.
Giandomenico, S., Cardellicchio, N. (2016). Metals and PCB levels in some edible marine organisms from the Ionian Sea: dietary intake evaluation and risk for consumers. Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res, 23, 12596-12612.
Koenig, S., Solé, M., et al. (2013). New insights into mercury bioaccumulation in deep-sea organisms from the NW Mediterranean and their human health implications. Sci. Total. Env., 442, 329-335.
Maggi, C., Lomiri, S., et al. (2014). Environmental Quality of Italian Marine Water by Means of Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) Descriptor 9. PLoS ONE 9(9): e108463.
Martí-Cid, R., Bocio, A., et al. (2007). Intake of chemical contaminants through fish and seafood consumption by children of Catalonia, Spain: Health risks. Food and Chemical Toxicology, 45, 1968-1974.
Milun, V., Lusic, J., et al. (2016). Polychlorinated biphenyls, organochlorine pesticides and trace metals in cultured and harvested bivalves from the eastern Adriatic coast (Croatia). Chemosphere, 153, 18-27
Mol, S (2011). Determination of trace metals in canned anchovies and canned rainbow trouts. Food and Chemical Toxicology, 49, 348-351.
Naccari, C., Cicero, N., et al. (2015). Toxic Metals in Pelagic, Benthic and Demersal Fish Species from Mediterranean FAO Zone 37. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol, 95, 67–57.
Noël, L., Testu, C., et al. (2011). Contamination levels for lead, cadmium and mercury in marine gastropods, echinoderms and tunicates. Food Control, 22, 433-437.
Storelli, MM., Barone, G. (2011). Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins and furans (PCDD/Fs): Occurrence in fishery products and dietary intake. Food Chemistry, 127, 1648-1652.
UNEP (2002). Chemicals 2002 Global Mercury Assessment Geneva (Switzerland) December 2002, p. 244. United Nations Environment Programme.
UNEP/MAP (2013). Decision IG.21/3 - Ecosystems Approach including adopting definitions of Good Environmental Status (GES) and Targets. COP 18, Istanbul, Turkey. United Nations Environment Programme, Mediterranean Action Plan, Athens.
UNEP/MAP (2016). Decision IG.22/7 - Integrated Monitoring and Assessment Programme (IMAP) of the Mediterranean Sea and Coast and Related Assessment Criteria. COP19, Athens, Greece. United Nations Environment Programme, Mediterranean Action Plan, Athens.