Rising mercury consumption from blue foods in China balanced by a shift to lower-mercury choices

Wang, Wei, Xue, Yumiao, Wang, Rui, He, Pan ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1088-6290 and Liu, Beibei 2025. Rising mercury consumption from blue foods in China balanced by a shift to lower-mercury choices. Sustainable Production and Consumption 59 , pp. 15-26. 10.1016/j.spc.2025.07.011 Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

Blue foods are increasingly promoted as a sustainable source of animal protein, yet they also pose health risks due to dietary exposure to total mercury (THg). Accurate, meal-level assessment that incorporates dietary preferences is essential to identify high-risk recipes and inform safe consumption strategies. This study develops a framework for estimating per-serving THg content by integrating THg concentration meta dataset, online recipe, household consumption data, and internet search behaviors across China from 2011 to 2019. Results show that fish-based recipes, particularly those involving seabass (Lateolabrax japonicus), had the highest per-serving THg content, while shrimp- and shellfish-based dishes had lower levels. Although per capita THg consumption increased alongside blue food consumption, a nationwide shift toward lower-THg species—primarily shrimp—helped mitigate health risks. Under future dietary guidelines (EAT-Lancet and CDG), THg intake in Northwest China could increase up to 7.1 times. Nonetheless, all projected levels remain within established health thresholds. Our findings highlight the importance of integrating health-related externalities into dietary sustainability assessments and support the development of regionally informed, low-Hg dietary guidance during ongoing dietary transitions.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Earth and Environmental Sciences
Publisher:	Elsevier
ISSN:	2352-5509
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	21 September 2025
Date of Acceptance:	24 July 2025
Last Modified:	22 Sep 2025 09:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/181215

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