Multiple tests have revealed that the mercury content of the dolphin meat sold in Japan's markets is 100 times higher than the government's established safety threshold, making it highly toxic.
After a test revealed a sample contained mercury levels up to 100 times greater than the government's advised safe level, marine conservationists filed a complaint demanding that "toxic" dolphin meat be removed from sale in Japan.
The complaint was made to the police in central Japan by the Australian nonprofit Action for Dolphins (AFD), which had received expert warnings that regular intake of dolphin meat might be harmful to consumers' health.
Mercury Content at 100x the Safety Threshold
According to AFD, recent testing at a lab in Japan showed that one sample purchased there contained up to 97.5 times more mercury than the government's safe limit.
The mercury levels in a second package of Risso's dolphin offal were 80 times above the recommended safe level.
On October 13, 2022, a Japanese-based AFD investigator placed an online order for Risso's dolphin offal via the Yahoo! Japan website.
On October 15 of the same year, two packages were delivered, and they were sent to a Japanese laboratory where they underwent separate testing.
The chief executive of AFD, Hannah Tait, expressed her hope that the police complaint and test results would lead to the removal of dolphin meat from supermarkets, eateries, and online retailers.
Dolphin Meat
Tait expressed her hope that the police complaint and test results would lead to the removal of dolphin meat from supermarkets, eateries, and online retailers, WION reported.
According to Russell Fielding, a Coastal Carolina University assistant professor and expert on cetaceans and mercury levels, the levels of contamination discovered in the meat evaluated by AFD would be anticipated to have adverse health effects if regularly consumed.
Fielding stated that the meat tested exceeded the recommendations and would be anticipated to result in health issues if regularly consumed, with methylmercury concentrations of 1.58 ppm, and mercury concentrations of 39 ppm.
Fielding is not an AFD member.
The health ministry of Japan advises that fish and seafood with levels of total mercury and methylmercury above 0.4 ppm and 0.3 ppm are unsafe for human consumption.
The complaint is the most recent effort by AFD to put an end to the yearly slaughter of dozens and dozens of dolphins in Taiji, which was the subject of the 2009 Oscar-winning documentary The Cove, according to the International Marine Mammal Project.
Testing Dolphin Meat
According to tests done by AFD in 2020 and 2021, dolphin meat contained mercury levels that ranged from 12 to 25 times the legal limit.
Mercury and other contaminants can negatively affect fetal development, neural development, and memory.
They can also increase the risk of developing Parkinson's disease, hypertension, and arteriosclerosis in adults, according to studies of individuals who frequently consume cetacean products.
1,137 of the town's roughly 3,500 residents provided hair samples for the tests, The Guardian reported.
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