{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,13]],"date-time":"2026-08-13T04:29:59Z","timestamp":1786595399824,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"16","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,11]],"date-time":"2026-08-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1786406400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001824","name":"Grant Agency of the Czech Republic","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["GA 21-42021L"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["GA 21-42021L"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001824","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"award":["GA 21-42021L"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["GA 21-42021L"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01pv73b02","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"METROFOOD-CZ Research Infra-structure Project","award":["LM2023064"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["LM2023064"]}]},{"name":"National Science Centre, Poland","award":["UMO-2020\/39\/I\/NZ9\/02959"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UMO-2020\/39\/I\/NZ9\/02959"]}]},{"award":["UMO-2020\/39\/I\/NZ9\/02959"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UMO-2020\/39\/I\/NZ9\/02959"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/03ha2q922","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Foods"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The effects of household cooking on mercury speciation in whole small pelagic fish remain insufficiently understood. To address this gap, total mercury (T-Hg), methylmercury (MeHg), and Hg(II) were determined in wet whole-fish homogenates, including viscera, of sardines and sprats before and after boiling, steaming, baking, and frying. T-Hg was determined by AMA-254 and mercury species by HPLC-ICP-MS; results were expressed on wet-weight (ww), dry-weight (dw), and 100 g reference-portion bases. Frying yielded the highest dry matter, underscoring moisture-related differences among reporting bases. T-Hg concentrations ranged from 0.0518 to 0.1322 \u00b5g\/g dw and MeHg from 0.0273 to 0.0624 \u00b5g\/g dw. MeHg was detected in all samples, whereas Hg(II) exceeded the method detection limit only in baked and steamed sardines. MeHg amounts per 100 g ranged from 1.38 to 2.35 \u00b5g in sardines and from 0.95 to 1.79 \u00b5g in sprats. Within the tested batch, no treatment consistently reduced T-Hg or MeHg across both species. By combining analysis of the complete fish matrix with direct mercury speciation and multiple reporting bases, this study provides a food-relevant framework for interpreting mercury in processed small pelagic fish.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/foods15162802","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,11]],"date-time":"2026-08-11T08:09:36Z","timestamp":1786435776000},"page":"2802","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Effects\u00a0of Common Cooking Methods on Total Mercury and Methylmercury in Sardines and Sprats"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0004-0442-7084","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Petr","family":"Smid","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamycka 129, 165 00 Prague, Czech Republic"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7244-5509","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lukas","family":"Praus","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Agroenvironmental Chemistry and Plant Nutrition, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamycka 129, 165 00 Prague, Czech Republic"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4766-1271","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Barbora","family":"Lampova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology, Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamycka 129, 165 00 Prague, Czech Republic"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9706-2846","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Matyas","family":"Orsak","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamycka 129, 165 00 Prague, Czech Republic"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6865-6717","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Aneta","family":"Kopec","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Food Technology, University of Agriculture in Krak\u00f3w, Balicka 122, 30-149 Krak\u00f3w, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7373-1360","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ivo","family":"Doskocil","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology, Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamycka 129, 165 00 Prague, Czech Republic"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Fioravanti, R., Muzzioli, L., Maurel, E., Palma, G., Calabrese, G., Angioni, A., La Rocca, C., Mantovani, A., Pezzana, A., and Donini, L.M. 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