Supplementary Information For s6

Supplementary information for

Shark-fin, a symbol of wealth and good fortune may pose health risks – The case

of mercury

Yu Bon Mana,b,c1, Sheng Chun Wua,c1 and Ming Hung Wonga,b,c*

a School of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry

University, Lin’an, Zhejiang 311300, China

b Department of Science and Environmental Studies, The Hong Kong Institute of

Education, Tai Po, Hong Kong, China

c State Key Laboratory in Marine Pollution - Croucher Institute for Environmental

Sciences, Hong Kong Baptist University and City University of Hong Kong, Hong

Kong, China

Corresponding author at: Department of Science and Environmental Studies, The

Hong Kong Institute of Education, Tai Po, Hong Kong, China. Tel.: +852 2948 8706.

E-mail address: [email protected] (M.H.Wong).

1Yu Bon Man and Sheng Chun Wu contributed equally to this work. Figure S1 Pearson correlation of total mercury (µg/kg) and MeHg (µg/kg) in the shark fin samples of Beijing and four coastal cities (Hong Kong, Shanghai, Haikou and Wenzhou) in China.

Table S1 Parameters and reference dose for estimating the human non-cancer risk after consumption of shark fins

Exposure factors Adult Child Reference Daily consumption rate of shark fins (kg/day) 0.00175 0.000938 (Census and Statistics Department 2009, 2012; Leung et al. 2000)) Extreme consumption rate of shark fins (kg/day) 0.15 0.0807 (Census and Statistics Department 2009, 2012; The 8 restaurant 2009) Body weight, BW (kg) 60 15 (Lee et al. 1994; US EPA, 1991) Reference dose for MeHg (µg/kg/day) 0.1 0.1 ( US EPA 2013) Table S2 F-value and significance levels of two-way ANOVA for mercury concentrations in different locations and sizes of shark fin

Analyses of variance F value (Total mercury) F value (MeHg) Location 0.905 4.07** Size 2.24 1.70 Location × size 1.59 0.790

** significant different level at 0.01 Table S3 Correlation matrix of shark fin mercury concentrations and length in Beijing and four coastal cities (Hong Kong, Shanghai, Haikou and Wenzhou) in China.

HK SH Total mercury MeHg Length Total mercury MeHg Length Total mercury 1 -0.0390 0.145 Total mercury 1 -0.0240 0.521 MeHg 1 0.431 MeHg 1 0.337 Length 1 Length 1 BJ HN Total mercury MeHg Length Total mercury MeHg Length Total mercury 1 0.640* 0.466 T Total mercury 1 0.882** 0.637* MeHg 1 0.415 MeHg 1 0.331 Length 1 Length 1 WZ Total MeHg Length mercury Total mercury 1 0.770** -0.757** MeHg 1 -0.575 Length 1

Pearson correlation coefficients were shown. Values with * indicated that significant correlations were found at p=0.05, and values with ** indicated that significant correlations were found at p=0.01.

Note: HK Hong Kong, SH Shanghai, BJ Beijing, HN Haikou and WZ Wenzhou

Reference

Census and Statistics Department. Hong Kong Census Trade Statistic. (2009). Published by the Information Services Department, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government. Census and Statistics Department. (2012). HONG KONG: THE FACTS. Published by the Information Services Department, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government. Lee, M.M., Wu-williams, A., Whittemore, A.S., Zheng, S., Gallagher, R., the, C.Z., et al. (1994). Comparison of dietary habits, physical-activity and body-size among Chinese in North-America and China. International Journal of Epidemiology, 23(5), 984-990. Leung, S., Chan, S., Lui, S., Lee, W., Davies, D. (2000). Growth and nutrition of Hong Kong children aged 0–7 years. The Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 36(1), 56–65. The 8 restaurant. (2009). Grand Lisboa, Avenida de Lisboa, Macau.