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Recent years have seen steadily increasing concerns about human exposure to heavy metals through seafood consumption. In Korea, the diverse dietary patterns of different bivalve shellfish necessitate tissue-specific evaluation of heavy metal contents for risk assessment. We analyzed the heavy metal contents of various tissues in scallops (Patinopecten yessoensis) and pen shells (Atrina pectinate). In both species, we found higher levels of cadmium (Cd) in the mantle than in the adductive muscle, while there was no significant difference between the two tissue types in total mercury (THg) and lead (Pb) (P<0.05). Levels of THg and Pb were acceptable by Korean standards. However, the level of Cd in pen shell mantle tissue exceeded the standard by 40%. The rate of heavy metal exposure from consumption of these species was shown to be 0.003-0.010% of the provisional tolerable weekly intake of THg and 0.312-0.600% of the provisional tolerable monthly intake (PTWI) of Cd as recommended by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives. These findings on the tissue-specific heavy metal contents of these species will be useful in assessing the health risks of Korean dietary habits.
