## 6 Mediterranean Coastal Communities as an Informative Case Study
Assuming an exposure frequency of 365 days a year, an exposure duration of 80 years (equivalent to the average lifetime in Italy in 2011), an ingestion rate of 18 g per day, and a body weight of 70 kg, after measuring Hg levels in various species of demersal fish commonly consumed in Italy, [PERSON] and [PERSON] calculated a high target hazard quotient (THQ) and estimated weekly intake (EWI) for larger fish specimens caught in the Adriatic Sea [123]. In a study taking into account various commercially relevant marine species from the Ionian Sea, assuming a consumption rate greater than once per week, the authors found a possible risk for chronic systemic effects derived from Hg content [131]. Similar findings were derived from several other studies on seafood from various parts of the Mediterranean Sea, focusing on levels of Hg [124,132] and PAHs [129]. Given all the above, and considering the high average seafood consumption in the Mediterranean regions, we highlight the need for policymakers to take into account evidence of potentially high exposure to seafood contaminants among Mediterranean communities, especially as regards MeHg, and to consider if it is reasonable to revise law limits and/or recommendations. In line with the above-mentioned evidence, studies on newborns and preschool children from Mediterranean populations have shown high Hg concentrations in blood and hair [6]. Analyzing data collected from over 200 cross-sectional studies measuring Hg biomarkers in human populations, [PERSON] and collaborators [12] found geographic differences in Hg exposure, with pooled central median blood mercury concentrations being higher in general background populations (i.e., those with no particular or significant exposure to mercury) living in certain geographic areas, including the Eastern Mediterranean. They also found that subpopulations that consume high amounts of seafood are approximately four times more exposed than the general background population. In particular, exposures were higher in Indigenous people in many regions of the world, in populations living in proximity to water bodies or associated with marine ecosystems, among which were populations living along the Mediterranean Sea. [PERSON] and colleagues [11] compared the results of several investigations on Hg exposure in Europe countries, and found that the highest hair Hg levels were found in Madeira fishermen, habitual tuna consumers in Sardinia, and Greenlandic children and mothers. A study on the adult population of Naples, Italy, found a strong correlation between total mercury concentrations (THg) in hair and fish consumption, while almost no association was found between THg and number, surface and area of dental amalgam fillings, another possible source of MeHg in the general population, thus confirming previous findings of the major role of seafood consumption in human exposure to this pollutant [133]. Moreover, the same study found THg levels higher than the reference dose adopted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (0.1 ug per kg body weight) in 5.9% of the samples. Finally, it is interesting to note that two of the three Mediterranean countries taken into consideration in the EU-funded human biomonitoring study named DEMOCOPHES [134], i.e., Spain and Cyprus, with the fourth being Slovenia, are respectively the first and the third countries as regards mercury levels in the hair of mothers compared to all the others, with Spain being also the second European country for per capita seafood consumption in 2016 [135], as well as the Mediterranean country with the second highest share of domestic wild capture consumption compared to imported seafood (FAOSTAT, 2018), after Croatia, which was not included in the DEMOCOPHES study. Some subgroups of the Mediterranean coastal population may be more exposed than others to the harmful action of seafood pollutants. As shown by the above-described review from [PERSON] and colleagues [12], coastal communities are more exposed to MeHg.