Estimation of Local 

 Consumption 



average per capita consumption of fish and shellfish increased from 13 

 g/day in 1960 to 21 g/day in 1986. Because of the nature of these surveys 

 and limitations of polls in terms of duration of individual records and 

 numbers of people surveyed, precise statistical distributions for life- 

 time fish consumption cannot be obtained with existing data. 



Consumption values derived from the 1977-1978 USDA study were 

 used to develop EPA's Tolerance Assessment System (TAS). Mean 

 and percentiles of fish and shellfish consumption rates are provided in 

 TAS for the U.S. population in the 48 conterminous states and various 

 population subgroups (Tables 2-7). These estimates are for "acute" 

 consumption (i.e., the amount offish eaten in a single day). The average 

 per capita fish/shellfish consumption rate of 15 g/day in TAS (No. 4 of 

 Table 1 ) is generally consistent with the per capita consumption values 

 listed for other surveys and reports. 



The distribution of consumption provided in Tables 2-7 is the distribu- 

 tion among fish or shellfish eaters only, and is not a distribution for the 

 entire population. The column titled "% Population as Consumers" 

 provides the percentage of each population subgroup that is estimated 

 to be a consumer of each category of fish/shellfish on any given day. 

 The mean consumption estimates shown in Tables 2-7 are also for 

 eaters only, and should not be confused with the mean per capita 

 consumption estimates that are more commonly used in TAS analyses. 

 These numbers provide valid estimates of the amounts of fish eaten in 

 a single day. However, because of the way the data were derived, the 

 frequency offish consumption and, hence, annual consumption applies 

 only to the "average" person. It is not possible to predict from that 

 survey the population distribution for frequency of consumption and 

 range in annual consumption. 



Since the estimates of fish consumption just discussed are national 

 averages, they are not predictive of all subgroups and regions on a scale 

 fine enough to address local situations of potential concern. If local fish 

 consumption information is not available, the Fish Contamination 

 Subcommittee of the Risk Assessment Council suggests that other 

 estimates of extreme consumption can be made by assuming that fish 

 consumption by some subgroups would be equal to the average con- 

 sumption of red meat (130 g/day) and, as a "reasonable" worst case, 

 that some people would consume fish at levels equal to the combined 

 TAS average consumption of red meat, poultry, arid fish/shellfish (180 

 g/day) (Table 8). Conceivably, these values could be exceeded locally, 

 especially when economically disadvantaged people rely on fishing to 

 survive. Adding on an additional equivalent for egg consumption 

 would bring the average estimate up to 215 g/day, and this might not 

 be unreasonable for special situations. The above values are based on 

 consumption by an average 60-kg individual. 



Based on 114 g (0.25 pound) for a single serving of fish/shellfish, an 

 average annual consumption of 18 g/day (e.g., see Data Source Nos. 12 

 and 13 of Table 1) corresponds to approximately 1 meal per week of 

 fish or shellfish. Using the TAS estimate of 180 g/day for total meat 

 protein consumption (consisting of red meat, poultry, and 



