Highly toxic heavy metals founds within seafood samples taken from the two central provinces of Ha Tinh and Quang Tri which were affected by mass fish deaths are within the permitted levels, health authorities have claimed.

The Ministry of Health’s National Institute for Food Control announced the results of a test on 16 seafood samples from different markets in Ha Tinh Province, including fish, shrimps and crabs on May 4.

According to the test, the content of heavy metals such as mercury, lead and arsenic in these 16 samples remained within permitted levels. However, the institute did not specify what the heavy metal content and the permitted levels were.

Thach Kim Market in Ha Tinh Province

Earlier, on April 28, the Administration for Food Safety and Hygiene Department and the National Institute for Food Control also took 12 samples of fish, shrimp, crab, cuttlefish and other seafood from the Ky Nam Port in Ha Tinh’s Ky Anh Town. Analysis indicated that that the levels of heavy metals in the samples were still apparently safe.

In Quang Tri Province, the Department of Health announced the same result as Ha Tinh after testing 10 samples of dead fish on local beaches.

Quang Tri Province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said that the mass fish deaths had caused losses valued at VND134 billion (USD6.4 million). The problem affected 11,572 local households and 2,522 fishing boats. The losses were even more serious than those regularly reported following major storms, said provincial authorities.

Earlier, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development requested agencies in the four central provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Thua Thien-Hue and Quang Tri hit by the disaster to take samples of seafood two or three times a day for testing to determine the level of heavy metals.

If tests find excessive content of heavy chemicals in the water, the provinces must immediately destroy all the seafood caught in the areas and issue warnings to fishing crews, the ministry said.

Some days ago, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment claimed the waters off four central coastal provinces were safe for bathing.

Meanwhile, on May 4, the interdisciplinary inspection team led by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment started to check the wastewater treatment system of Taiwan-invested Formosa steel plant in Ha Tinh to clarify the links between the company’s wastewater discharge and the mass fish deaths.