Cai, Xingrui;
Yang, Mengqi;
Liu, Maodian;
Chen, Yuang;
Yu, Chenghao;
Zhang, Haoran;
Zhang, Qianru;
... Wang, Xuejun; + view all
(2025)
China's municipal wastewater policies enhanced seafood safety and offset health risks from atmospheric mercury emissions in the past four decades.
Nature Food
10.1038/s43016-024-01093-9.
(In press).
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Abstract
The neurotoxin methylmercury in seafood threatens food safety worldwide. China has implemented stringent wastewater policies, established numerous treatment facilities and enforced rigorous water quality standards to address pollution in its waterways. However, the impact of these policies on seafood safety and methylmercury exposure remains unknown. Here we developed a process-based model showing that, although mercury reductions from municipal wastewater policies accounted for only 9% of atmospheric mercury emissions during 1980-2022, these measures unexpectedly prevented 102,000 - 6,600 + 11,000 mercury-related deaths and counteracted nearly two thirds of potential deaths from those emissions. Furthermore, these policies ensured that 146 - 9 + 8 megatonnes of freshwater seafood met the World Health Organization and China's mercury-safety standards, preventing US $ 498 - 29 + 32 billion in economic losses. Finally, we explore how China, as the primary global seafood producer and exporter, could develop municipal wastewater policies at the regional level to reduce aquatic pollutants and unlock the health benefits of seafood consumption.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | China's municipal wastewater policies enhanced seafood safety and offset health risks from atmospheric mercury emissions in the past four decades |
| Location: | England |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s43016-024-01093-9 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-024-01093-9 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| Keywords: | Science & Technology, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, Food Science & Technology, ECOSYSTEM SERVICES, FISH CONSUMPTION, TREATMENT PLANTS, BIOACCUMULATION, METHYLMERCURY, IMPACTS, MODEL, ENVIRONMENT, EXPOSURE, STREAM |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10203708 |
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