食品伙伴网讯 据欧盟食品安全局（EFSA）消息，应欧盟委员会的要求，12月20日欧盟食品安全局就食品中的无机汞和甲基汞对人体的健康风险发布了意见。欧盟食品安全局对无机汞与甲基汞的毒性，以及食品添加剂专家委员会（JECFA） 制定的关于无机汞与甲基汞的暂行每周摄入量规定进行了评估。

    部分原文报道如下：

    Following a request from the European Commission, the EFSA Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain （CONTAM Panel） was asked to deliver a scientific opinion on the risks to human health related to the presence of inorganic mercury and methylmercury in food. The Panel was asked to consider new developments regarding the toxicity of inorganic mercury and methylmercury since the last opinion of the European Food Safety Authority （EFSA） of 24 February 2004 and to evaluate whether the provisional tolerable weekly intakes （PTWIs） established by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives （JECFA） of 1.6 ?g/kg body weight （b.w.） for methylmercury and of 4 ?g/kg b.w. for inorganic mercury were considered appropriate. The CONTAM Panel was also asked to assess human dietary exposure, taking into account specific sensitive groups and to consider the non-dietary sources of exposure to mercury species.

    Mercury is a metal that is released into the environment from both natural and anthropogenic sources. Once released, mercury undergoes a series of complex transformations and cycles between atmosphere, ocean and land. The three chemical forms of mercury are （i） elemental or metallic mercury （Hg0）， （ii） inorganic mercury （mercurous （Hg22+） and mercuric （Hg2+） cations） and （iii） organic mercury. Methylmercury is by far the most common form of organic mercury in the food chain.

    原文链接：<http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/pub/2985.htm>