Fish Meal in Animal Feed and Human Exposure to Persistent Bioaccumulative and Toxic Substances

Abstract

Persistent and bioaccumulative toxic substances (PBTSs) that end up in fish are health hazards and the object of fish-consumption advisories. Some of these substances are present as extraneous contaminants, e.g., man-made lipophilic pollutants such as organohalogen pollutants, and others such as monomethyl mercury can be considered naturally occurring. Omnivores (e.g., poultry and swine) and especially ruminants that are fed contaminated fish meal can pass monomethyl mercury and organohalogen pollutants to eggs, meat, and dairy products. Differences in fish meal PBTS profiles and farm animal (e.g., poultry, swine, cattle, and farmed fish) physiology modulate PBTSs in animal products. Fish-consumption advisories issued to protect human health do not extend to fish by-products fed to farmed animals. Animals (especially farmed fish) that are fed fish meal can bioconcentrate monomethyl mercury in protein matrices, and organohalogen pollutants can be passed on in the fat components of derived foods. Policies to decrease exposure to monomethyl mercury and organohalogen pollutants must consider farming practices that use fish by-products. A risk assessment of toxic contaminants in fish meal may indicate that food safety objectives must consider the human health impact of foods derived from animals fed contaminated meal.