Simulation of methylmercury toxicity resulting from the consumption of Mediterranean red tuna fish

The toxicity of methylmercury is sufficiently high to justify an evaluation of the risk from the consumption of contaminated food. In the method of risk assessment proposed here, distribution frequencies are assigned to the parameters in question, rather than mean values. Total body burden is estimated by numerical simulation on a digital computer. Based on recorded cases of incipient intoxication and allowing a safety factor of 10, the critical body burden has been estimated at between 5, 4 and 6 mg total mercury. From an application of this approach to the assessment of risk from Mediterranean red tuna fish consumption, it appears that there may exist high frequency consumers whose body burdens, while not in the overtly neurotoxic range, approach the computed critical level.