Conference paper

Lead, Cadmium, and Mercury Dietary Intake in Croatia

Maja Blanuša
Dijana Jureša

Abstract

This paper gives an overview of published data on levels of lead, cadmium, total and methylmercury in various food items, and of a daily dietary intake assessment in Croatia focusing on the last 10 years. It briefly describes the most reliable methods for quantitative analysis of lead, cadmium, and mercury in biological material. Lead and cadmium concentrations in vegetables and in organs of domestic animals refer to nonexposed rural areas. Mercury concentrations in fish and mussels refer to industrially polluted and non-polluted areas of the Adriatic. The daily dietary intake of lead and cadmium was assessed on the basis of duplicate-diet-collection and fooddisappearance method. The assessment of the total and methyl-mercury dietary intake was based on dietary surveys of family seafood consumption. Lead and cadmium intake through food in the general population was 6–40% of the Provisional Tolerable Weekly Intake (PTWI), depending on the assessment method. The only Croatian population consuming more mercury through seafood is the one living in Dalmatia, approaching the PTWI defined by WHO.

Keywords

atomic absorption spectrometry; duplicate diet; fish; mussel; methyl-mercury; vegetables

Hrčak ID:

537

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/537

Publication date:

27.4.2001.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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