# Hg Content in EU and Non-EU Processed Meat and Fish Foods
## 4 Discussion
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multicolumn{1}{c}{**Samples**} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{**No Samples**} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{**Hg**} & \multicolumn{3}{c}{**TWI\%**} \\ \hline  & & & **Africa** & **America** & **Asia** & **Europe** & **Oceania** \\ \hline  & & **Range** & **Range** & **Range** & **Range** & **Range** & **Range** \\  & & **Min-Max** & **Min-Max** & **Min-Max** & **Min-Max** & **Min-Max** & **Min-Max** \\ \hline \multicolumn{1}{c}{Canned tuna} & 17 & 9.25–290.21 & 1.55–48.61 & 1.36–42.81 & 1.11–34.83 & 2.54–79.81 & 3.47–108.83 \\ Natural and dried shrimp & 7 & 9.45–11.90 & 1.58–19.19 & 1.39–1.76 & 1.13–1.43 & 2.60–3.27 & 3.54–4.46 \\ \multicolumn{1}{c}{Canned sardines} & 3 & 13.89–14.21 & 2.32–3.28 & 2.05–2.10 & 1.67–1.71 & 3.82–3.91 & 5.21–53.53 \\ \multicolumn{1}{c}{Canned crab meat} & 3 & 8.07–11.30 & 1.35–18.9 & 1.19–1.67 & 0.97–13.6 & 2.22–3.11 & 3.03–4.24 \\ \multicolumn{1}{c}{Canned pink salmon} & 2 & 10.15–15.19 & 1.70–25.4 & 1.50–2.24 & 1.22–1.82 & 2.79–4.18 & 3.81–5.70 \\ \multicolumn{1}{c}{Dried sardines} & 3 & 98.34–101.08 & 1.64–16.93 & 14.50–14.91 & 11.80–12.13 & 27.04–2780 & 36.88–37.91 \\ \multicolumn{1}{c}{Canned mackerel fillets} & 4 & 24.84–27.33 & 4.16–4.58 & 3.66–4.03 & 2.98–3.28 & 6.83–7.52 & 9.32–10.25 \\ \multicolumn{1}{c}{Canned horse mackerel} & 3 & 26.62–37.96 & 4.46–36.36 & 3.93–5.60 & 3.19–4.56 & 7.32–10.44 & 9.98–14.24 \\ \multicolumn{1}{c}{Canned beef and pork pate} & 4 & \textless{LOQ-3.27} & n.d.–0.71 & n.d.–4.82 & n.d.–1.85 & n.d.–4.50 & n.d.–4.99 \\ \multicolumn{1}{c}{Canned beef} & 8 & \textless{LOQ} & n.d. & n.d. & n.d. & n.d. & n.d. \\ \multicolumn{1}{c}{Canned chicken} & 13 & \textless{LOQ-3.28} & n.d.–0.71 & n.d.–4.83 & n.d.–1.56 & n.d.–3.77 & n.d.–4.18 \\ \multicolumn{1}{c}{Canned pork} & 5 & \textless{LOQ-3.92} & n.d.–0.85 & n.d.–5.78 & n.d.–1.86 & n.d.–4.51 & n.d.–5.00 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} n.d. = not detected.  
\end{table} 
Table 5: Tolerable weekly intake (TWI) % values for Hg contents in relation to different dietary habits. For fish, different contents of this element are indicated depending on the species: _Thumus species_ (1.0 mg/Kg); Shellfish (0.5 mg/Kg); _Scomber species_, _Salmo species_, and _Sardina species_ (0.30 mg/Kg). In general, however, all samples were below the maximum levels reported. This is an important result, considering that the accumulation of mercury in processed fish can occur due to the natural presence of this element in the aquatic environment and the different processing steps they undergo [37]. As already mentioned, no maximum mercury levels are specified for meat and processed meat products. However, the content shown by the analyzed samples was very low and did not cause any concern. Furthermore, the results obtained from our study were comparable with those found in the literature, where mercury concentrations in processed meat samples were minimal [3; 14; 16; 25]. The following study, in addition, included the assessment of mercury exposure because of excessive consumption of the products analyzed. In this regard, in fact, tolerable weekly intake values of Hg were calculated for each species investigated. An initial assessment was made considering an average consumption of 200 g of each processed product by a 70 Kg adult. No other factors, such as age or gender, were considered because the Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM) of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) indicates a TWI value for inorganic mercury of 4 ug/kg body weight [18] for all age groups and not differentiating by gender. Given the results obtained and shown in Tables 3 and 4, only two fish samples (F1 and F2) exceeded TWI levels, while the remaining products analyzed were within the normative levels. A second assessment was conducted by considering the average consumption and food habits of different world countries. In this regard, Table 5 shows that seafood products exhibited a wide range of TWI percentages, ranging from n.d. and 108.83%.