Pollutants in seafood and how it impacts our health

Our planet’s ocean is now polluted due to a few factors, and it is becoming serious over the years. Most of the pollution is actually from power plant emissions, residues from industries as well as plastics. The rising pollution in ocean has concerned the fish consumption. (Barclay, 2013) When the plastics are being eaten by the fish, it will affect the food chain and lead to critical consequences in regards to health of humans and wildlife. (Reisewitz, 2016)

Info graphic showing plastic pollution in ocean: 

                               Source: Pinterest
Why is this important? Those fish that consume plastic will develop cell death. A fish that experienced staying in plastic pollutant was found to have tumor on 25% of its liver when being dissected.(Renter,2013) In the view of natural environment. fish consume plastic, then mammals, other marine animals and humans consume fish. Therefore, the risk of inhibiting the defense system in our bodies is higher when too much polluted fish is being consumed. 

Table 2: Disease Burden of Selective Common and Marine-Related Diseases

DISEASE	DALYs/Year (Millions)	Economic Impact (US$ Billions)
Malaria	31.0	124.0
Diabetes	11.0	44.0
Trachea, Brachia and Lung Cancer	8.8	35.0
Stomach Cancer	7.7	31.0
Intestinal Nematodes	5.0	20.0
Upper respiratory tract infections	1.3	5.2
Trachoma	1.0	4.0
Dengue Fever	0.75	3.0
Japanese Encephalitis	0.74	3.0
Diphtheria	0.36	1.4
DISEASE RELATED TO CONTAMINATION
Related to Bathing and Swimming	0.4	1.6
Seafood Consumption (Hepatitis)	1.8	7.2
Seafood Consumption (Algal toxins)	1.0	4.0
Sub Total	3.2	12.8

Source: (GESAMP, 2001)

Another common factor that will suffocate the fish in ocean is caused by the oil spills. The oil spills have caused the marine life to barely survive in ocean, which increase the possibility of experiencing disruption in marine ecosystems. (Olson, 2016) When the oil is released and does not dissolve properly, eventually it will endanger the marine animals and fish. Some of the sea birds also get caught dying because the spilled oil is blocking them from flying. (K.R.Jeyakumar, 2013)

Toxic pollution has been a major contributor to impact our health as well as marine ecosystems. We should all contribute to the improvement of marine life, not limited to non-government organizations or government, because each of us is responsible to our own health and the marine ecosystems.

References:

Barclay, E., 2013. How plastic in the ocean is contaminating your seafood. Eating and Health.

GESAMP, 2001. Protecting the ocean from land based activities. Gesamp Report and Studies, Volume 71, p. 168.

K.R.Jeyakumar, 2013. Impact of marine pollution on human health and the enviornment. Shanlax International Journal of Economics, 1(2), p. 6.

Olson, S., 2016. Fish out of water: Eating polluted seafood may damage humans' natural defense system. Medical Daily.

Reisewitz, A., 2016. Pollutants in fish inhibit human's natural defense system. Science Daily, p. 13.

Renter, E., 2013. Fish eat plastic from pulluted oceans, travels up food chain & harms humans. [Online]
Available at: http://naturalsociety.com/fish-eat-plastic-polluted-oceans-travels-food-chain/

 
Written by: Leow Hooi Shan