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Heavy metals

Publish date: January 10, 2009

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Heavy metals

The most recent monitoring results show that the content of heavy metals in Norwegian farmed salmon lies under threshold values by a good margin.

The table below compares observed levels of heavy metals in Norwegian fish with threshold values set by the EU, and clearly illustrates that the heavy metal content of Norwegian salmon does not provide grounds for concern about the health of consumers. The mercury content has fallen from 0.04 mg/kg in 1995 to below 0.02 mg/kg in 2006. For lead and cadmium the figures represent the detection values of 0.01 and 0.005 mg/kg, respectively, so that actual values may be lower.

		Arsen (As)	Lead (Pb)	Cadmium (Cd)	Mercury (Hg)
Year	n	Mean (min-max)	Mean (min-max)	Mean (min-max)	Mean (min-max)
2007	65	1,7 (0,9-2,8)	< 0,01	< 0,004	0,03 (0,02-0,06)
2006	64	1,5 (0,89-2,2)	< 0,01	< 0,003	(<0,01-0,026)
2005	20	2,2 (1,8-3,0)	< 0,01	(< 0,001-0,003)	0,03 (0,02-0,04)
2004	12	2,4 (1,1-3,1)	0,002 (0,002-0,003)	< 0,001	0,029 (0,024-0,036)
2003	25	1,6 (1,2-1,9)	< 0,01	< 0,002	0,03 (0,015-0,033)
2002	45	1,0 (0,9-1,9)	< 0,01	< 0,001	0,02 (<0,004-0,03)
2001	45	2,0 (0,6-3,1)	< 0,005	< 0,001	0,02 (0,015-0,037)
1998	18	2,0 (1,4-4,8)	< 0,005	< 0,001	0,02 (0,008-0,038)
1995	45	3,0 (1,4-4,8)	< 0,01	< 0,001	0,04 (0,021-0,052)

Source: NIFES

EU threshold values

Lead (Pb)

0.2 mg / kg for all species except eel, horse mackerel and sardine where the value is 0.4 mg / kg, while shrimp, lobster meat and crab claw meat has an upper limit of 0.5 mg / kg wet weight. Limit does not include: brown meat of crab, lobster tripe, cod liver.

Cadmium (Cd)

0.05 mg / kg for all species except eel, horse mackerel and sardine where the limits are 0.1 mg / kg, while the limits for crab claw meat and lobster meat is 0.5 mg / kg. Limit does not include: brown meat of crab, lobster tripe, cod liver.

Mercury (Hg)

0.5 mg / kg for all species other than redfish, wolf-fish, anglerfish, eel and halibut where the limit is 1.0 mg / kg. Limit does not include: crab, lobster, cod liver.