Aluminium content in edible parts of seafood

Samples of the edible parts of different fish species and of crustacean and molluscan shellfish were collected in the North Sea, the Barents Sea, the Baltic Sea, the Northeast Atlantic, and in Greenland waters. Most of the. a luminium concentrations in fillets of lean and fatty fish were lower than 0 .2 mg Al/kg wet weight. Exceptions were the aluminium concentrations in fil lets of fish caught near an aluminium smelting plant (up to 1 mg Al/kg wet weight). Presumably a connection between the aluminium content in sea water and the fish fillets is responsible for this. The investigations of fillet s of saithe, haddock, and cod with different lengths (age) showed that the aluminium levels decreased with increasing length, however, the decrease wa s not significant. An aluminium accumulation in muscle tissue with increasi ng age could not be detected. A comparison between fillets and different or gans of cod showed higher aluminium concentrations in organs, especially in gills. The aluminium intake via gills, which are in continuous contact wit h the ambient water, is responsible for this. In the edible part of crustac ean and molluscan shellfish higher aluminium concentrations (up to 5 mg Al/ kg wet weight) were detected. The different feed spectrum and metabolism of these species seem to be responsible for the higher aluminium accumulation in marine crustacean and molluscan shellfish.