Environmental Public Health Journal 2016 | BCIT Institutional Repository

Environmental Public Health Journal 2016

Comparison of water quality in live shellfish retail holding tanks
Background: Water quality in live retail shellfish holding tanks are vital in increasing shellfish quality and reducing risk of shellfish-associated outbreaks. Poor holding tank water conditions may not only cause mortality of shellfish, but also allow for harmful pathogens to contaminate the shellfish, proliferate in the holding tanks, and ultimately potentially affect consumer health. Shellfish are processed and handled at a variety of levels at the retail stage. Therefore, the purpose of this research project is to compare water quality in live retail shellfish holding systems between processing plants and retail food markets. Differences may indicate a need for attention at a particular level in order to effectively and efficiently reduce mortality and disease among shellfish, and thus potentially humans as well. Methods: 30 water samples were taken from the two types of locations with the help of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), Ministry of Agriculture, and the BCCDC. These samples were tested for parameters including temperature, pH, nitrites, turbidity, and dissolved oxygen using a LaMotte Fresh Water Aquaculture Kit and a HACH 2100P turbidimeter. A two-tailed t-test was used to compare the means of each of the parameters among the two types of locations with live shellfish holding tanks. Results: The mean values for all parameters in both retail and processing met the requirements set by the BCCDC. However, temperature and dissolved oxygen showed statistically significant differences between retail markets and processing facilities. Nitrites, pH, and turbidity showed no statistically significant differences between the two types of locations. Conclusion: Differences in dissolved oxygen may have been due to salt levels, failing recirculation systems, or high levels of organic matter from sanitation issues. Differences in temperature may have been due to differences in holding tank size, or inconsistencies from using two different thermal measuring devices. High levels of nitrites were a concern as well due to overcrowding of holding tanks. More attention may be needed for these issues, especially during certain seasons such as Chinese New Years, in order to lower the risk to public health., Peer-reviewed article, Published., Project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Bachelor of Technology in Environmental Health, British Columbia Institute of Technology, 2016., Peer reviewed, Shellfish, Holding tanks, Water quality, Processing facility, Retail food market, Food safety, Public health
The effect of seafood consumption on the memory of post-secondary students in B.C.
Background and Purpose: Seafood makes up a significant portion of the diets of people around the world. Especially fatty fish such as salmon and herring, seafood items contain numerous nutritional benefits including omega-3 fatty acids which studies have shown aid in cognition and memory. However, due to natural and anthropogenic sources of pollution, contaminants such as mercury which studies suggest decreases cognitive functioning if consumed in excess bioaccumulate in marine life including various fish and shellfish species. The purpose of this study was to categorize participants into either the “fish” group (more fish than shellfish consumed) or the “same” group (either more shellfish than fish consumed or equal amounts of fish and shellfish consumed) via a seafood frequency questionnaire, and to administer a memory test to the participants to determine whether there is a significant difference in mean memory test scores between the groups. Methods: 31 participants were randomly selected at BCIT to participate in the study. Participation was voluntary and participants were given written and oral instructions on how to complete both the seafood frequency questionnaire and memory test. Memory test scores were based on the length of the longest digit sequence that the participant was able to recite upon hearing the examiner list the sequence. The highest possible score was a 10, while the lowest possible score was a 1. Results: The mean memory test scores of the groups, “fish” (more fish than shellfish consumed) and “same” (either more shellfish than fish consumed or equal amounts of fish and shellfish consumed), were 5.83 and 5.92, respectively. The median memory test scores of the groups, “fish” and ”same”, were both equal to 6. The standard deviations of the groups, “fish” and “same”, were 1.2004901 and 0.9540736, respectively. The ranges of the groups, “fish” and “same”, were 4 (minimum) to 8 (maximum) and 5 (minimum) to 8 (maximum). From the non-parametric Wilcoxon Rank sum test, the P-value was found to be >0.05 at α = 0.05. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that diets relatively high in fish are neither positively nor negatively correlated with memory. However, the limitations of this study in combination with the various studies that contradict this study’s findings illustrate the need for further research., Peer-reviewed article, Published., Project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Bachelor of Technology in Environmental Health, British Columbia Institute of Technology, 2016., Peer reviewed, Memory, Seafood, Shellfish, Fish, PCBs, Mercury, Brain, Neurodevelopment, DHA, EPA, Omega-3 fatty acids