About this Research Topic

Background

The production and processing of agro-aqua (agricultural and aquatic) foods are responsible for the discharge of significant quantities of chemical contaminants into the environment. Yet, little is known about the identification methods, prognosis, and monitoring of these pollutants at the different stages of agro-aqua food production and processing as well as their implications on the One Health triad. Such knowledge is required to mitigate their harmful effects on human and animal health and promote environmental safety for a sustainable future.

The interests in agro-aqua foods and food products remain utilitarian and focused on maximizing outputs for global food security and sovereignty. This is partly due to the increasing population and consumer demands for agro-aqua foods and food products, which in-turn can alter the intricate balance of the One Health triad. Specifically from unsustainable practices associated with organic and inorganic chemical compounds like nutrient overload, heavy metals, toxins, pesticides, herbicides and other harmful chemicals that may increase antimicrobial resistance, zoonotic and vector-borne diseases, food safety issues, environmental contamination, etc. Some of these chemical contaminants from agro-aqua food production and processing with potential implication on the One Health triad include derivatives of pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, hormones, biocides, nanomaterials, pharmaceuticals, personal care products, etc. These chemical contaminants pose a unique threat to both people, animal and ecosystem health and global sustainable development. Most worrisome is that we do not fully understand them from a safety perspective of point and nonpoint source connected to agro-aqua food production and processing.

Moving forward research and technological development has an inextricable role in the measurement and elucidation of the full spectrum of the One Health risks associated with chemical contaminants from agro-aqua food production and processing. Research focused on how these chemical contaminants from the production and processing of agro-aqua foods and food products may be degraded in soil, water, and air as well as how they enter the food chain will guide the sustainable development of One Health policies, regulations, and health standards. Such research may assess and highlight the half-life of these chemical contaminants, potential climate change implications, specific environmental impacts, people and animal health, as well as the cost of their remediation with a view to developing sustainable alternatives.

Potential topics of interest regarding the One Health triad implications of chemical contaminants from the production and processing of agro-aqua foods include:

- Detection and measurement of chemical contaminants in agro-aqua foods as well as from their production and processing
- Risk analysis of chemical contaminants in agro-aqua foods as well as from their production and processing
- Monitoring of chemical contaminants in agro-aqua foods as well as from their production and processing

Keywords: Emerging contaminants, Agro-aqua food and food products, Public and Environmental health and safety, Food production, Sustainable development

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