FINCH: THE MECCA PROJECT 



average mercury levels were calculated for each 

 kind offish, under five assumptions: 



1. All the commercial catch is marketed 

 (base line). 



2. Fish containing over 1.5 ppm mercury 

 are removed from the market (guideline 

 1.5 ppm). 



3. Fish containing over 1.0 ppm mercury are 

 removed from the market (guideline 1.0 

 ppm). 



4. Fish containing over 0.75 ppm mercury 

 are removed from the market (guideline 

 0.75 ppm). 



5. All fish containing over 0.5 ppm mercury 

 are removed from the market (present 

 FDA guideline). 



For most kinds of fish no sample exceeded 

 0.5 ppm, and the averages were the same under 

 different assumptions. A list of the levels used 

 under the assumptions is given in Table 3. It 

 is reiterated that these are not intended in all 

 cases to represent levels in fish now available 

 in the market. 



Table 2. — Sensitivity test.' 



Table 3. — Mercurv levels' used in MECCA runs. 



Run identity 



Mercury level 

 input (ppm) 



Standard Test 0.1% 1.0% 



Readouts (^g/day)- 



Highest 

 reading 



Average 



Standard run — — 30 17 31.8 2.57 



Light meat tuna 0.31 0.41 30 18 32.7 2.85 



White meat tuna 0.30 0.35 30 18 31.8 2.69 



Swordfish 1.10 0.00 .19 12 20.8 1.94 



Mackerel 0.51 0.71 30 17 31.8 2.58 



Red snapper 0.43 0.54 30 17 31.8 2.58 



All other fish 0.15 0.30 30 17 31.8 2.62 



' The tests were run using Data Base 2 and preliminary 

 data. They may therefore differ slightly from the final run 

 data. Sensitivity to the increase or decrease in mercury level 

 input shown in the test column may be seen by comparing 

 the corresponding readouts with the standard run. 



^Columns marked 0.1°o and 1.0% refer to the level of doily 

 intake inpg/day exceeded only by 0.1% and 1.0°o, respectively, 

 of the individuals in the sample. 



Alternative guideline levels (ppm) 



Code Kind of fish 



1.5 



1.0 



0.24 



0.21 



0.37 



0.30 

 0.44 

 0.21 

 0.35 

 0.35 

 0.92 

 0.31 



0.24 



0.21 



0.37 



0.30 

 0.37 

 0.21 

 0.26 

 0.26 

 0.80 

 0.22 



0.75 



0.19 



0.20 



0.30 

 0.33 

 0.21 

 0.24 

 0.23 

 0.63 

 0.19 



0,5 



0.19 



0.17 



0.36 0.32 



01 Tuna— light 0.31 0.26 0.26 0.26 0.22 



02 Tuna — white 0.30 _ _ _ _ 



03 Clam 0.04 _ _ _ _ 



04 Oyster 0.03 _ _ _ _ 



05 Shrimp 0.06 _ _ _ _ 



06 Whitefish 0.05 _ _ _ _ 



07 Herring 0.07 _ _ _ _ 



08 Cod 0.10 _ _ _ _ 



09 King crab 0.06 _ _ _ _ 



10 Dungeness crab 0.16 — — — — 



11 Blue crab 0.08 _ _ _ _ 



12 Lobster 0.24 



13 Lobster toil 0.09 



14 Scallops 0.03 



15 Other shellfish 0.06 



16 Haddock 0.05 



17 Flounder/sole 0.10 



18 Halibut 0.23 



19 Ocean perch 0.08 



20 Salmon 0.03 



21 Snapper 0.42 



22 Catfish 0.14 



23 Whiting 0.07 



24 Scup porgy 0.19 



25 Mullet 0.14 



26 Bullhead 0.30 



27 Mackerel 0.51 



28 Buffalo fish 0.23 



29 Yellow, lake perch 0.35 



30 Striped bass 0.35 



31 Swordfish 1.10 



32 Carp 0.31 



33 Crappie 0.11 — — — 



34 Shad 0.12 — — — 



35 Alewife 0.10 _ _ _ 



36 Pollock 0.22 _ _ _ 



37 Lake trout 0,35 _ _ _ 



38 Smelt 0,07 _ _ _ 



39 Jock mackerel 0.04 _ _ _ 



40 Rockfish (Pacific) 0,20 0.20 0.20 0.19 



41 Pompano 0,41 0.25 0.25 0.25 



42 Pike 0.56 0.56 0.43 0.37 



43 Butterfish 0.05 _ _ _ 



44 Trout 0.16 0.16 0,15 0.15 



45 Bass 0.44 0.44 0.37 0.33 



46 Fish sticks 0.06 _ _ _ 



47 All other fish 0.15 _ _ _ 



48 Seafood plate 0,06 _ _ _ 



49 Other specialties 0,06 _ _ _ 



50 Sardine, not Maine 0,02 — — — 



51 Anchovies 0,04 _ _ _ 



52 TV dinners 0.05 _ _ _ 



0.14 

 0.25 

 0.21 

 0,21 

 0.21 

 0.49 

 0,17 



0,19 

 0.25 

 0.25 



0.13 

 0.27 



" Figures are only shown for guidelines where 

 differences from the unconstrained overages. 



ther 



PROGRAM RUNS AND READOUTS 



Following a number of preliminary experi- 

 ments, including data base comparisons and 

 sensitivity tests, the computer program was run 

 using Data Base 1 with the following mercury 

 levels: 



Base-line level, i.e., average calculated for 

 each species assuming no guidelines. 

 Average levels calculated for each species 

 assuming each of the guidelines referred 

 to above (Table 3). 



Base-line level with the level for swordfish 

 set at zero (to simulate the effect of 

 removing swordfish from the fish supply). 



621 



