Report smells something fishy in shrimp

This verdict found its way into New York’s Bulletin on Environmental Contamination and Toxicology in March. ‘‘Other than Haldia in West Bengal, Mumbai’s sea water is the most polluted. Sea-food from cleaner coastal waters down south is less prone to heavy metal contamination,’’ says A.D. Sawant, the study’s co-author and former head of environmental sciences at Institute of Science. ‘‘Mumbai’s marine life is exposed to toxins from chemical industries, dyes, fertiliser factories and garbage dumping sites along the coast,’’ he added.

Till now, the lead and cadmium levels have hovered within US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) standards, but the siren’s already blaring. ‘‘We know that sea food has become a carrier of lead and cadmium,’’ Sawant said.

S.M. Tungare, the study’s co-author who collected samples from trawlers at Ferry Wharf, Sassoon Docks, and local fishermen working with net bags at Mumbra and Bhayander, says the catch is dwindling. ‘‘A direct result of marine pollution is that the fish population is declining. At Navapur, Palghar, and Satpati, fishermen said they no longer catch anything.’’

The report says: ‘‘Analysis revealed a fair amount of toxic metal contamination in all samples. Results show that consumption of non-edible portions should be avoided (which some communities consume) since it’s a direct source of metal contamination.’’ Shrimps are omnivores and absorb lead because of an excellent metal-binding property called chitin.

The tested species — parapenaeopsis stylifera (40 per cent of shrimp landing in Mumbai daily), solenocera crassicornis (20 per cent) and metapenaeus monoceros (10 per cent) — had high lead levels before and after monsoon, when tested twice.