Environmental Contaminants’ Threat to Food Security: A Case Study in Semarang, Indonesia
Jenkins, Nola B.
2020
- Food supplies in low and middle-income countries with and extensive coastline are likely be jeopardized by dwindling fish resources exacerbated by widespread water contamination, especially with microplastics. Microplastics (plastics < 5mm diameter) harbor fecal matter, heavy metals, and pathogens within biofilms that coat their surfaces; these microplastics change the way primary producers like ... read morezooplankton and filter feeders like shrimp obtain nutrients and thus disrupt the bottom of the food chain. Microplastics consumed by fish also limit fish availability as a food resource by damaging fishes’ reproductive cycle, inhibiting eating, and causing disease. An understanding of how microplastics can affect food supply, aquaculture and ocean catch fish, and ultimately human health, is very limited. This study quantifies the impacts of microplastics on consumption, production, and distribution of fish in the coastal city of Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia. We compiled data from published and gray literature and two major surveys: Statistik Indonesia and FAO Statistics on fish consumption. We also explored the annual production of plastic waste through a directed literature review to better understand the effects of environmental contaminants on food safety and security. We considered the example of Semarang, a coastal Indonesian city, to understand the impacts of microplastics on food security in an urban center. Microplastics data is not reported in a systemized way, but data from peer reviewed literature shows that there is a wide range of amounts of microplastics in sediment, in water, and in fish. We estimated the consumption of fish and quantified the presence of microplastics based on peer reviewed literature. Fish needs to be considered more prominently in the issue of food security because of its importance in feeding the world’s rising population. Microplastics are a global issue that will affect all food resources, and our study will provide a basis for understanding the impact on food safety through the lens of an understudied food source. Advisor: Dr. Karen Kosinski.read less
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