US EPA Fact sheet: Fish tissue criterion for methylmercury to protect human health
Fact Sheet; January 2001
This water quality criterion describes the maximum advisable concentration of methylmercury in freshwater and estuarine fish and shellfish tissue to protect consumers of fish and shellfish among the general population. EPA expects the criterion recommendation to be used as guidance by States, authorized Tribes, and EPA in establishing or updating water quality standards for waters of the United States. Because consumption of contaminated fish and shellfish is the primary route of human exposure to methylmercury, EPA is expressing this water quality criterion as a fish and shellfish tissue value rather than as a water column value. EPA is providing suggested approaches for relating this criterion to water column concentrations, and also plans to develop more detailed guidance to help water quality managers implement the methylmercury criterion in water pollution control programs.