Health Risks from Eating Contaminated Fish

Abstract

Assessing and quantifying the potential risks to human health from eating contaminated fish is essential to evaluating both the target risks from consuming contaminated fish and the countervailing risks that may result from consumers following fish advisory advice. Adverse health effects from contaminants in fish range widely and may include cancer, developmental and reproductive toxicity, and other systemic effects. The occurrence and severity of the effects depend upon the amount to which a person is exposed and characteristics of the individual, including genetic makeup and life stage. Traditionally, risk assessors have calculated estimates of an individual or population’s risk for getting cancer from exposure to chemicals, whereas for noncancer endpoints, a reference dose or concentration (for contaminants in air) is identified at which one would not expect to see adverse effects in a population (including sensitive subgroups). Cancer slope factors are estimates of risk derived from dose-response data from laboratory animal or human