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Mercury
Poisoning
Fish List
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The following charts show the level of mercury poisoning in fish. It includes fish high in mercury like swordfish, shark, small mouth bass, pickerel, and those considered lower in mercury like shellfish, mackerel, shrimp, scallops, talapia and whitefish.
Please note that many believe that white tuna or albacore is higher in mercury poisoning than the charts show.
The following tables provide the mean and range of mercury levels in a variety of fish and shellfish.
Table 1
Fish With Highest Mercury Levels |
SPECIES |
MEAN (PPM) |
RANGE (PPM) |
NO. OF SAMPLES |
Tilefish |
1.45 |
0.65-3.73 |
60 |
*Swordfish |
1.00 |
0.10-3.22 |
598 |
King Mackerel |
0.73 |
0.30-1.67 |
213 |
*Shark |
0.96 |
0.05-4.54 |
324 |
Table 2
Fish and Shellfish With Much Lower Mercury Levels |
SPECIES |
MEAN (PPM) |
RANGE (PPM) |
NO. OF SAMPLES |
Grouper (Mycteroperca) |
0.43 |
0.05-1.35 |
64 |
Tuna (fresh or frozen) |
0.32 |
ND-1.30 |
191 |
Lobster Northern (American) |
0.31 |
0.05-1.31 |
88 |
Grouper (Epinephelus) |
0.27 |
0.19-0.33 |
48 |
Halibut |
0.23 |
0.02-0.63 |
29 |
Sablefish |
0.22 |
ND-0.70 |
102 |
Pollock |
0.20 |
ND-0.78 |
107 |
Tuna (canned) |
0.17 |
ND-0.75 |
248 |
Crab Blue |
0.17 |
0.02-0.50 |
94 |
Crab Dungeness |
0.18 |
0.02-0.48 |
50 |
Crab Tanner |
0.15 |
ND-0.38 |
55 |
Crab King |
0.09 |
0.02-0.24 |
29 |
Scallop |
0.05 |
ND-0.22 |
66 |
Catfish |
0.07 |
ND-0.31 |
22 |
Salmon (fresh, frozen or canned) |
ND |
ND-0.18 |
52 |
Oysters |
ND |
ND-0.25 |
33 |
Shrimps |
ND |
ND |
22 |
Table 3
Fish With Methylmercury Levels Based on Limited Sampling
Data presented in Table 3 are based on limited sample sizes and therefore have a much greater degree of uncertainty |
SPECIES |
MEAN (PPM) |
RANGE (PPM) |
NO. OF SAMPLES |
Red Snapper |
0.60 |
0.07-1.46 |
10 |
Marlin |
0.47 |
0.25-0.92 |
13 |
Moonfish |
0.60 |
0.60 |
1 |
Orange Roughy |
0.58 |
0.42-0.76 |
9 |
Bass Saltwater |
0.49 |
0.10-0.91 |
9 |
Trout Freshwater |
0.42 |
1.22 (max) |
NA |
Bluefish |
0.30 |
0.20-0.40 |
2 |
Croaker |
0.28 |
0.18-0.41 |
15 |
Trout Seawater |
0.27 |
ND-1.19 |
4 |
Cod ( Atlantic) |
0.19 |
ND-0.33 |
11 |
Mahi Mahi |
0.19 |
0.12-0.25 |
15 |
Ocean Perch |
0.18 |
ND-0.31 |
10 |
Haddock ( Atlantic) |
0.17 |
0.07-0.37 |
10 |
Whitefish |
0.16 |
ND-0.31 |
2 |
Herring |
0.15 |
0.016-0.28 |
8 |
Spiny Lobster |
0.13 |
ND-0.27 |
8 |
Perch Freshwater |
0.11 |
0.10-0.31 |
4 |
Perch Saltwater |
0.10 |
0.10-0.15 |
6 |
Flounder/Sole |
0.04 |
ND-0.18 |
17 |
*Clams |
ND |
ND |
6 |
Tilapia |
ND |
ND |
8 |
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