Environ Health Toxicol.
2013 ;28(1):e2013017.
Hazardous Metal Pollution in the Republic of Fiji and the Need to Elicit Human Exposure
- Affiliations
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- 1Department of Medical Humanities and Social Medicine, Kosin University College of Medicine, Busan, Korea.
- 2Department of Occupational Toxicology, Institute of Industrial Ecological Sciences, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Kitakyushu, Japan. wilson@med.uoeh-u.ac.jp
- 3Fiji Nurses Christian Fellowship, c/o Director Nursing Services, Ministry of Health, Dinem House, Suva, Fiji.
- 4Department of Biomedical Laboratory Science, Inje University, Gimhae, Korea.
- 5School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
Abstract
- The fact that hazardous metals do not bio-degrade or bio-deteriorate translates to long-lasting environmental effects. In the context of evidently rapid global industrialization, this ought to warrant serious caution, particularly in developing countries. In the Republic of Fiji, a developing country in the South Pacific, several different environmental studies over the past 20 years have shown levels of lead, copper, zinc and iron in sediments of the Suva Harbor to be 6.2, 3.9, 3.3 and 2.1 times more than the accepted background reference levels, respectively. High levels of mercury have also been reported in lagoon shellfish. These data inevitably warrant thorough assessment of the waste practices of industries located upstream from the estuaries, but in addition, an exposure and health impact assessment has never been conducted. Relevant government departments are duty-bound, at least to the general public that reside in and consume seafood from the vicinities of the Suva Harbor, to investigate possible human effects of the elevated hazardous metal concentrations found consistently in 20 years of surface sediment analysis. Furthermore, pollution of the intermediate food web with hazardous metals should be investigated, regardless of whether human effects are eventually confirmed present or not.
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