In August 2018 researchers from Iran, Chile, Italy and Norway published their review of the medical scientific literature to analyse the pooled concentrations of metals found in canned tuna fish in Iran to assess the non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks in children and adults. consumers. A total of 23 articles met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review. In addition 1295 samples were assessed. Results showed that the ranking order of metals based on average concentrations (μg/g wet weight) or order of content and starting with the highest level first were iron followed by zinc, followed by selenium, aluminium, chromium, then copper, arsenic, nickel, lead, cadmium, mercury and tin. Except for cadmium and selenium, the levels of the other metals in the canned tuna fish were lower than the limits recommended by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, World Health Organization, Food and Agriculture Organization and Iran National Standards Organization. The Incremental Lifetime Cancer Risk for arsenic was 3.21E-5 in adults and 4.18E-5 in children. The researchers therefore concluded that although there is no overall carcinogenic risk in canned tuna fish in Iran, there is a potential cancinogenic risk due to the arsenic content.
Rahmani J et al. A systematic review and meta-analysis of metal concentrations in canned tuna fish in Iran and human health risk assessment. Food Chem Toxicol. 2018 Aug;118:753-765