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Welcome to the April issue of EVISA's Speciation Newsletter !
Fish is widely regarded as one of the healthiest foods available. It is rich in essential nutrients, including high-quality proteins and vitamin D, and is an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids, which play a crucial role in maintaining heart and brain health. Not surprisingly, large-scale observational studies consistently show that regular fish consumption is associated with a reduced risk of heart attacks, strokes, and death from cardiovascular disease.
However, human activities such as mining, fossil fuel combustion, and waste incineration have led to the release of heavy metals into the environment, including marine ecosystems. As a result, fish and other marine organisms can absorb and accumulate toxic pollutants such as arsenic (As), mercury (Hg), cadmium (Cd), and lead (Pb), posing significant health risks to consumers. Seafood is a major dietary source of mercury and arsenic exposure, and to a lesser extent, cadmium and lead.
Therefore, while evaluating the health benefits of seafood, it is equally important to assess potential risks associated with heavy metal contamination. Importantly, assessing only the total concentration of these metals is not sufficient, as their toxicity depends on their specific chemical and physical forms. Effective risk assessment requires speciation analysis—the identification and quantification of individual metal species present in seafood.
In this context, a team of Chinese researchers has developed a cost-effective method for lead speciation using short-column ion chromatography coupled with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (IC-ICP-MS). Their analysis of various seafood samples revealed species-specific lead profiles: seaweed and shellfish contained only inorganic lead (Pb²⁺), whereas fish samples also contained the more toxic organic species, trimethyl lead (TML).
The health impact of heavy metals in seafood can also be influenced by other components in the food itself. For example, multiple studies have shown that selenium (Se), a nutrient commonly found in seafood, can mitigate the toxic effects of mercury—as long as the selenium concentration exceeds that of mercury.
Building on this, a U.S.-based research team investigated the Se-to-Hg ratio in fish tissues and its relevance to human health. As a measure of food safety, they used a Health Benefit Value (HBV) based on the relative concentrations of selenium and mercury. A positive HBV indicates that the selenium content is sufficient to counteract mercury toxicity, making the fish safe for consumption, including during pregnancy. Their findings showed that 14 out of 15 ocean fish species examined had a positive HBV, suggesting they are safe to eat. Only mako shark had a negative HBV, indicating that its consumption should be limited due to a higher potential health risk.
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NEWS
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EVISA is keeping you updated with what is going on in speciation analysis. In this section you will find news about the most current research results, about trends, legal issues and information from manufacturers in the field of speciation analysis.
With all the links to further information and publications the News archive is a valuable collection of "hot topics" in speciation analysis. We continuously update even former news with new links and information so that all news are actual all the time.
Speciation analysis of lead in seafood using short-column ion chromatography coupled with ICP-MS
A team of Chinese researchers has developed a cost-effective method for the speciation analysis of lead in seafood using short-column ion chromatography hyphenated with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (IC-ICP-MS).
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Selenium, Mercury, and Health Benefit Values of Ocean Fish of the Central North Pacific
The study evaluates the relative safety and benefits of consuming pelagic fish during pregnancy, focusing on the relationship between mercury (Hg) and selenium (Se) concentrations in fish tissues and their potential impact on human health.
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EVENTS
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With
a list of about 50 current entries EVISA is informing you about
interesting events and keeps you updated with their deadlines. By
consulting our list of deadlines you won't miss the opportunity for
early registration at reduced fee or the chance to submit your
contribution in time.
May 13, 2025 Submission of abstracts for poster presentations
Analytical Research Forum 2025
Date: June 17, 2025 - June 17, 2025
Location: London, UK, and online
May 5, 2025 Early bird registration closes
June 2, 2025 Standard registration closes
SinS: Solutions in Science
Date: July 15,2025 - July 17,2025
Location: The Brighton Centre, Brighton, UK
April 30,2025 Early registration at reduced fee
EUROANALYSIS 2025
Date: August 31, 2025 - September 4,2025
Location: Barcelona
April 30,2025 Early registration at reduced fee
June 30,2025 Submission of abstracts for late posters
SciX 2025
Date: October 5,2025 - October 10,2025
Location: Northern Kentucky Convention Center in Northern Kentucky
May 9,2025 Submission of abstracts for oral presentations
June 30,2025 Submission of abstracts for poster presentations
August 15,2025 Early registration at reduced fee
Please do not hesitate to inform us in case that your conference related to speciation analysis is missing in our Agenda.
EGU General Assembly 2025
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Location:
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Vienna, Austria
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Date:
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27.04.2025 - 02.05.2025
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SETAC Europe 35th Annual Meeting
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Location:
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Vienna, Austria
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Date:
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11.05.2025 - 15.05.2025
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Spectr’Atom 2025
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Location:
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Holiday Inn Kingston Waterfront, Kingston, ON, K7L 1A2, Canada
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Date:
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26.05.2025 - 29.05.2025
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67th ICASS: 67th International Conference on Analytical Sciences and Spectroscopy
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Location:
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Kingston Market Square Hotel, Kingston, ON, K7L 3B1, Canada
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Date:
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27.05.2025 - 29.05.2025
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73rd ASMS Conference on Mass Spectrometry
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Location:
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Baltimore Convention Center, Baltimore, Maryland
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Date:
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01.06.2025 - 05.06.2025
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BERM 16: 16th International Symposium on Biological and Environmental Reference Materials
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Location:
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Halifax Convention Centre | Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
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Date:
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01.06.2025 - 04.06.2025
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VACANCIES
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EVISA provides information about open positions for Ph.D. students, PostDocs and permanent staff in the field of speciation. Looking to fill a vacancy or needing a new career challenge? Either way this service is FREE. Many laboratories and research facilities (from Greenland to Crete) have already found their highly educated stuff through this service by EVISA. If you would like to post an open position here, please contact us at info@speciation.net !
Doctorates
Postdoctoral
Other
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DIRECTORY
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EVISA's directory of scientist is a versatile tool to facilitate contact with scientists in the field of speciation and related sciences. The directory is fully searchable for names, addresses, research topics etc. You should bookmark this directory as an always up-to-date address book. (In order to hinder SPAM robots for collecting the E-mail accounts, we hide them in a special format).
More than 300 active scientists in the field of speciation analysis already joined the directory. Join this great directory that is extensively linked to all type of other information on this site, such as homepages, conferences and literature.
If your entry is still missing in this directory, please contact us at info@speciation.net.
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LINKS
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EVISA provides an easy access to external information. Our database contains more than 2850 links to relevant information from numerous top scientific resources spread over the whole Web. The database is searchable both via full-text and categories such as elements, type of species and type of information. We are permanently updating our links section.
If your web site is missing here, please e-mail your link information to info@speciation.net.
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This issue of evisa's Speciation Newsletter has been sent to you by EVISA, because you have registered for this service. If you would like to modify your user account, please log-in on EVISA's web portal at https://speciation.net with your username and password and edit your user account.
Please feel free to pass this Speciation Newsletter to others who may benefit from EVISA. If you have any contributions or suggestions, please send these to editors@speciation.net.
This is a post-only e-mail. Please do not reply to this message. For all inquiries, problems or suggestions regarding this service, please visit https://speciation.net or contact info@speciation.net
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Copyright 2025 EVISA
All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use, reproduction, or transfer of this message or its contents, in any medium, is strictly prohibited. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of EVISA.
Disclaimer
No responsibility is assumed by the publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions or ideas contained in the material herein. The Newsletter represents only the opinion of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Community. The European Community is not responsible for any use that might be made of the information provided.
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