This framework combines field data, experimental results and various types of models, ranging from individual shellfish growth models to broad-scale ecosystem models.
Total dietary intake of Hg in the U.S. population from estuarine and marine fish and shellfish was modeled using data on the supply of fisheries products in the commercial market and their corresponding Hg concentrations.
We found no association of diabetes with intakes of total fish, lean fish, or shellfish in adjusted models, but we observed a suggestion of a modest inverse association for fatty fish intake.
Let's take shellfish for example.
No significant associations were found for shellfish consumers in any model compared with nonconsumers of shellfish (RR model 2 1.04 [95% CI 0.61 1.77]) (data not shown).
Compared with the first quartile, HRs (95% CIs) for T2D were 0.84 (0.70, 1.01), 0.85 (0.95, 0.95), and 0.87 (0.97, 0.97) (P-trend = 0.06), with no evidence of heterogeneity (quartile 4 compared with quartile 1: I = 0%, P = 0.65) in model 3. Shellfish intake was not significantly associated with diabetes in an adjusted analysis (model 3).
Diet : The proportion of the C. maenas diet consisting of each shellfish species group being modeled was estimated as ranging from 0.20 to 0.35.
This estimate allows for other species to comprise up to 40% of C. maenas 's diet and that crabs can feed on any of the three shellfish species we are modeling (mussels, clams, & oysters).
Finally, we found a stronger inverse association of "total" fish excluding shellfish with diabetes risk in model 4 (0.73 [0.58–0.93]).
Due to time lags between the production of toxin by microbes and the appearance of those toxins or their metabolites in edible fish and shellfish, developing a realistic concentration model is a difficult task.
