I have always enjoyed eating tuna fish. Unfortunately, a study ot the mercury co

Question

I have always enjoyed eating tuna fish. Unfortunately, a study ot the mercury content of canned tuna in 2010 found that chunk white tuna contains 0.6 ppm Hg and chunk light tuna contains 0.14 ppm.2 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommends no more than 0.1 mu g Hg/kg body weight per day. I weigh 68 kg. How often may I eat a can containing 6 ounces (1 lb = 16 oz) of chunk white tuna so that I do not average more than 0.1 mu g Hg/kg body weight per day? If I switch to chunk light tuna, how often can I eat one can?

Explanation / Answer

First, let's convert the 0.1 ppb to ppm, knowing that 1 ppb = 0.001 ppm

0.1 * 0.001 = 0.0001 ppm (or mg/kg)

If you weight 68 kg, then this mean that you can consume the following quantity per day:

68 kg * 0.0001 mg/kg = 0.0068 mg Hg/day

Now if you consume a can of chunk tuna of 6 oz, let's convert that oz to mg

6 oz * 1 lb / 16 oz = 0.375 lb

1 lb = 0.454 kg

0.375 lb * 0.454 kg/lb = 0.17025 kg of Tuna.

We also know that a tuna can contains 0.6 ppm Hg or 0.6 mg Hg / kg Tuna so:

0.17025 kg Tuna * 0.6 mg Hg / kg tuna = 0.1022 mg Hg

0.17025 kg Tuna * 0.14 mg/kg tuna = 0.023835 mg Hg

Finally to see how often you can consume tuna per day:

White tuna = 0.0068 mg Hg/day / 0.1022 mg Hg = 0.0665 times per day.

Light tuna = 0.0068 mg Hg/day / 0.023835 mgHg = 0.2853 times per day.

Hope this helps.

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