Evaluation of the public’s knowledge, attitude, and practice on seafood contaminants

Abstract

Background: The public perceives seafood generally as a healthy food. Studies have shown that consumption of fish is associated with healthy heart function. However, the benefits of consuming seafood may also come with some risks, which may not be well-known by the public. Seafood can potentially contain contaminants that originate from the natural environment or pollutants from human activity. The contaminants of interest that were focused on in this study include lead, mercury, organophosphates, and domoic acid. Methods: The study utilized a KAP (Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice) survey to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and practices regarding these contaminants between the general public and those working in the seafood industry. Nominal data was analyzed by the chi-square test while numerical data was analyzed by the t-test. Results: The data obtained did not show a statistically significant difference between the general public and the seafood industry (p-values greater than significance level of 0.05 on all parameters) in their knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding seafood contaminants. Conclusion: There was no difference between the general public and the seafood industry in their knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding seafood contaminants. Although the attitude data was not significant, the effects of some chemical contaminants (organophosphates and domoic acid) were generally incorrectly perceived by both groups unlike biological contaminants. Additional research will be required, but results from this study show that educational intervention by the government or health authorities may be needed.