Mercury Exposure Calculator

Calculator Inputs

Body Weight (kg)

Fish Servings per Week

Serving Size (g)

Fish Mercury Concentration (mg/kg)

Water Intake (L/day)

Water Mercury Concentration (mg/L)

Other Dietary Mercury (µg/day)

Estimated Oral Absorption (%)

Assessment Period (weeks)

Reset

Example Data Table

Scenario	Body Weight	Fish Servings	Serving Size	Fish Conc.	Water Intake	Water Conc.	Total Intake	Daily Dose
Sample Adult	70 kg	2/week	140 g	0.22 mg/kg	2.0 L/day	0.0003 mg/L	10.40 µg/day	0.1486 µg/kg/day

Formula Used

Fish intake (µg/week) = Fish servings/week × Serving size (g) × Fish mercury concentration (mg/kg)

Water intake (µg/day) = Water intake (L/day) × Water mercury concentration (mg/L) × 1000

Total intake (µg/day) = Fish intake/7 + Water intake + Other dietary mercury

Absorbed mercury (µg/day) = Total intake × Oral absorption fraction

Daily dose (µg/kg/day) = Total intake (µg/day) ÷ Body weight (kg)

Weekly dose (µg/kg/week) = Total intake (µg/day) × 7 ÷ Body weight (kg)

Daily hazard quotient = Daily dose ÷ 0.10

Weekly guidance ratio = Weekly dose ÷ 1.60

Safe fish servings/week = Remaining daily mercury budget × 7 ÷ (Serving size × Fish concentration)

The calculator uses ingestion-focused screening equations. It is most suitable for fish and drinking-water related methylmercury exposure estimation.

How to Use This Calculator

Enter body weight in kilograms.
Add average fish servings per week and serving size.
Enter fish mercury concentration from a lab report, advisory, or dataset.
Enter drinking-water intake and measured mercury concentration.
Add any estimated mercury from other dietary sources.
Adjust oral absorption only when you have a justified assumption.
Select the assessment period to estimate cumulative absorbed burden.
Press Calculate Exposure to show the results above the form.
Use the export buttons to download CSV or PDF output.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What type of exposure does this calculator estimate?

It estimates chronic dietary mercury exposure from fish, drinking water, and other food-related inputs. It is designed for screening and comparison, not diagnosis.

2. Why is fish concentration entered in mg/kg?

Fish advisories and laboratory data commonly report mercury in mg/kg. Numerically, mg/kg equals µg/g, which makes meal-based intake estimation straightforward.

3. What does the daily hazard quotient mean?

It compares estimated daily dose with a selected reference dose. Values below one are below that benchmark, while values above one exceed it.

4. Why include an absorption percentage?

Absorption affects estimated internal burden. The risk comparison still uses external intake dose, but absorbed mercury helps visualize how much may enter the body.

5. Can this tool assess acute poisoning?

No. Acute poisoning depends on form, route, timing, symptoms, and laboratory evidence. This calculator is intended for longer-term screening estimates only.

6. Is this suitable for pregnant users or children?

It can illustrate estimated intake, but sensitive groups need individualized advice. Clinical guidance and local fish consumption advisories should take priority.

7. What if I do not know the mercury concentration?

Use measured data whenever possible. If no test result exists, use a local advisory, research dataset, or a documented assumption and note it clearly.

8. Why do my safe servings drop to zero?

That happens when water intake and other dietary sources already consume the full daily mercury budget. In that case, no fish servings remain within the estimate.