Mercury monitoring programme in fish, crustaceans and molluscs proposed

The EU Commission recommended a monitoring programme for mercury in order to be able to estimate the exposure of the population when eating fish and marine animals.

Both wild-caught and aquacultured animals are to be examined. In addition to the content of total mercury, the proportion of the organically bound heavy metal (as methylmercury) is to be determined. Compared to inorganic mercury, the organically bound metal is considered to have a higher toxicity. In the current EU legislation, maximum levels have so far only been regulated for the total content, while the Codex Alimentarius for fish already defines maximum levels also for methylmercury. In addition, the member states are required to develop recommendations for the consumption of these products. In Germany, these have been in place for several years.

EU monitoring programmes generally lead to increased official controls.

YOUR PLUS: The AGROLAB food laboratories carry out the determination of mercury according to accredited methods. A determination of methylmercury is currently still carried out in cooperation with a partner laboratory.