Mercury Content of the Saltwater Fish from the Atlantic Ocean Coast of South Carolina

Department of Natural Sciences, South Carolina State College, Orangeburg, South Carolina-29117

Manuscript received 2 May 1980, revised 15 December 1980, accepted 13 April 1981

A survey of mercury residues in saltwater fish from the Atlantic Coast of South Carolina was conducted to see if the problem of the magnitude of mercury contamina­tion was evident in the South Carolina fishery. Samples of saltwater fish from the Atlantic Coast of South Carolina were collected. Triplicate samples of fish tissue were analyzed by wet digestion method. Digests were analyzed using flameless atomic absorption spectrophotometry procedures outlined by Hatch and Ott as modified for use with a Perkin-Elmer, Coleman MAS-30 mercury analyzer. Different species vary in mercury content and larger fish contain higher concentrations of mercury than do smaller fish of the same species. All the fish analyzed contain mercury levels below the currently accepted guide line of 0.5 ppm. This means that fish from the Atlantic Coast of South Carolina are relatively clean and safe with respect to mercury contamination for human consumption. Thus, the lower levels of mercury found in fish from the Atlantic Coast of South Carolina can be related to less pollution due to exposure to waters from sewage, agricultural drainage, industrial waste and surface pollutants