Mercury content and their risk assessment in farmed shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei from NW Mexico

•The concentration of mercury in muscle is higher than hepatopancreas.•The consumption of shrimp farmed in Northwest Mexico no represents health risk.•Mercury levels in farmed shrimp do not exceed the official Mexican standards. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the total mercury content in hepatopancreas and edible muscle of the whiteleg shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei cultured along the NW coast of Mexico, and to evaluate the potential human health risk due to their consumption. Samples were obtained between May and June 2010 in 26 shrimp farms from the three most important shrimp-producing states of NW Mexico, and total Hg was analyzed after reduction with SnCl2 in a mercury analyzer. The ranges of Hg concentrations of the hepatopancreas were 0.101±0.03–0.184±0.13μgg−1 in Sonora, 0.077±0.055–0.813±0.363μgg−1 in Sinaloa and 0.139±0.037–0.791±0.33μgg−1 in Nayarit. In the muscle, values were from 0.078±0.02 to 0.539±0.09μgg−1 in Sonora, 0.154±0.03–0.861±0.423μgg−1 in Sinaloa and 0.121±0.041–1.48±0.44μgg−1 in Nayarit. Considering the concentrations of Hg in the muscle and the national consumption rate, shrimp farmed in NW Mexico does not represent a risk for human health (HQ