Intake of essential and non-essential elements from consumption of octopus, cuttlefish and squid

Total concentrations of essential (Cu, Zn, Se and Cr) and non-essential (Hg, Cd, Pb and As) trace elements weremeasured in the flesh and hepatopancreas of Octopodidae (Eledone moschata, Eledolle cirrhosa, Octopus salutii),Sepiidae (Sepia elegans, Sepia orbignyana) and Loliginidae (llex coindeti, Loligo vulgaris) from theMediterranean Sea. As expected, the hcpatopancreas showed higher metal concentrations than flesh; the onlyexceptions were Hg and As, which were equally distributed in the two tissues. Regarding the edible portion, thehighest toxic metal concentrations were in Octopodidae (Hg: 0.44, Cd: 0.49, Pb: 0.10 μgg-I wet weight) andSepiidae (Hg: 0.27, Cd: 0.50, Pb: 0.12 μgg-1 wet weight), while Loliginidae tended to accumulate less metal,especially Hg (Hg: 0.11. Cd: 0.30, Pb: 0.05μgg-1 wet weight). The other elements showed a heterogeneousdistribution among the different cephalopod families. Loliginidae showed the highest Se concentrations(1.18 μgg-1 wet weight), Octopodidae or Cu (37.37μgg-1 wet weight) and Zn (42.00μgg-1 wet weight) andSepiidae of As (61.43 μgg-I wet weight), while Cr was uniformly distributed among the various families(0.38- 0.43 μgg-l wet weight). In these seafoods, the concentrations of essential and non-essential elements werewithin the prescribed limits set by various authorities, except for Cu and As. Health risks posed by toxic elementsto humans via dietary intake of these mollusks were assessed on the basis on Provisional Tolerable Weekly Intake(PTWI), while the estimated intakes of essential elements were compared to Dietary Reference lntakes (RDls).A 70-g serving of these mollusks was shown to provide a large contribution to Cd intake (0.89 μg kg-I bodyweight), corresponding to 35.6% of PTWI. Concerning the essential elements, the consumption of these mollusksmade an important contribution to daily dietary intake of Se, Cu and Zn.[...]