About this Research Topic

Background

Seafood is consumed all around the world and the market is in constant growth. It is considered a high-quality food as an excellent source, amongst other, of vitamins (A, D, E, K and B12), minerals (calcium, selenium, phosphorous, sodium, potassium, magnesium, iodine, iron, copper, fluorine, cobalt and zinc), proteins, essential amino acids, and fatty acids (n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids). These are components that have associated seafood consumption with reduction of inflammatory diseases, stroke, arthritis, hypertension, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorders, and reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and depression.

However, contamination of coastal areas and oceans disturbs marine ecosystems, causing seafood to be also a potential source of pollutants such as microplastics, organochlorine and other pesticides, synthetic musks, polychlorinated biphenyls, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, flame retardants, heavy metals, and pharmaceuticals. Moreover, accumulation of such substances in organisms is likely to be transferred along the food chain, resulting in biomagnification. There is also the threat of potential biological hazards such as parasites, tetrodotoxin, histamine, ciguatera, allergens, pathogens, and viruses. The consumption of contaminated seafood therefore presents a major hazard to human health.

The risk-benefit scale for seafood consumption has always been a discussion issue, nonetheless the decline in aquatic environment quality over the years may has toppled this scale towards the risk portion which is of growing concern. In the last decades, the quick development of agricultural and industrial activities has severely increased environmental pollution. Chemical pollution of surface waters is a major threat to the aquatic environment and subsequently damages the aquatic organisms. In turn, the potential risk of seafood consumption and the associated health hazards increase. It is thus vital to monitor the aquatic environment and ensure the safety of seafood for human consumption.

This Research Topic is intended to provide an overview on the risk-benefit of the consumption of all types of seafood (e.g., fish, crustaceans, mollusks, cephalopod, echinoderms, algae). Aiming to include articles from experts in the fields of food quality, food safety, risk assessment, health hazard, environmental contamination, toxicology, and nutritional research.

Contributing articles should address either the benefits or potential hazard of seafood consumption or both topics. New developments in analytical and sample preparation techniques for the analysis of nutritional or hazard components in seafood samples or techniques to improve seafood safe consumption are also welcome.

We welcome researchers contributing to this Research Topic with original research articles and reviews on a topics within the described scope, including but not limited to:

• Nutrients within seafood, such as: vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, essential elements, fatty acids, and so forth.
• Articles covering food quality and safety aspects of seafood, such as those relating to: Persistent Environmental Pollutants (e.g., pesticides, micropollutants, pharmaceuticals, microplastics, heavy metals) as well as biological hazards (e.g., allergens, pathogens, parasites, viruses, histamine)
• Other contaminants which may be found in seafood sources (e.g.marine toxins from algae, shellfish or fish)
• Biomarkers of exposure to environmental contamination in seafood
• Risk-benefit analyses and risk assessments relating to seafood consumption and the impact on human health

Keywords: Endocrine disruptors, Risk assessment, Nutrition, Risk benefit, Food quality, Food safety, Persistent Environmental Pollutants, Emergent Pollutants

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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