Update on the One Health Fish Monitoring Project
ORCA’s One Health Fish Monitoring Citizen Science project (OHFM) is proving to be a game changer in the efforts to better understand the transfer of pollutants from the Indian River Lagoon to fish commonly consumed by humans.
The OHFM project investigates the accumulation of toxin and toxicants in fish caught in the Indian River Lagoon and connecting waterways. Simultaneously, we survey fishers to then better estimate the cumulative health exposures to potentially harmful substances- further exploring the connection between the environment, animals, and human health.
With the help of hundreds of ORCA citizen scientists, this project aims to better understand cumulative human exposures by analyzing fish for a wide range of anthropogenic pollutants including:
Heavy metals:
mercury, cadmium
Cyanotoxins (Microcystin)
Microplastics
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)
Pharmaceuticals
Controlled substances
Parasites
Join Research Associate and OHFM project coordinator, Bridget Gerovac for an update on project findings on Wednesday, March 30 at 6pm.
To join us in person, register here:
To watch the presentation online, register here: