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Abstract
The contents of total arsenic and inorganic arsenic were determined in fillet samples of Northeast Artic cod, herring, mackerel, Greenland halibut, tusk, saithe and Atlantic halibut. In total, 923 individual fish samples were analysed. The fish were mostly caught in the open sea off the coast of Norway, from 40 positions. The determination of total arsenic was carried out by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry following microwave-assisted wet digestion. The determination of inorganic arsenic was carried out by high-performance liquid chromatography–ICP-MS following microwave-assisted dissolution of the samples. The concentrations found for total arsenic varied greatly between fish species, and ranged from 0.3 to 110 mg kg–1 wet weight. For inorganic arsenic, the concentrations found were very low (<0.006 mg kg–1) in all cases. The obtained results question the assumptions made by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) on the inorganic arsenic level in fish used in the recent EFSA opinion on arsenic in food.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the Norwegian Food Safety Authority and the Norwegian Fisheries and Aquaculture Industry Fund for funding this work. Annette Bjordal, Elin Kronstad, Tonja Lill Eidsvik and Siri Bargaard are acknowledged for their skilful technical assistance. The authors also thank the personnel of IMR's research vessels who caught the fish and measured, weighed and aged them.