Date Published: January 2024
Abstract:
There are concerns over the presence of the potential carcinogenic chemical malachite green (MG) in various freshwater fish and their products. This brief gives an account of this substance and the risk to public health in light of available scientific information and the recent food surveillance findings. MG is a synthetic dye used to colour different materials such as silk, wool, cotton and paper. MG has been used commonly worldwide in aquaculture as early as the 1930s and it is considered by many in the fish farming industry as an effective antifungal and antiprotozoal agent. It has been used for the treatment of parasitic, fungal and protozoan diseases in fish and applied as a topical antiseptic. When fish is treated with MG, this substance will be absorbed and metabolised in tissues of fish. It has been reported that one of its major metabolites, namely, leucomalachite green (LMG), would persist in fish tissues for a long period of time. It was also reported to be detected in low levels in wild fish (including those fish that lived downstream from the effluents of treated sewage), which suggested that MG can exist as background contaminants in fish that have not been intentionally treated with MG.
Further Information: https://www.cfs.gov.hk/english/programme/programme_rafs/programme_rafs_fc_02_06.html
