Health benefits and health risks of contaminated fish consumption: Current research outputs, research approaches, and perspectives

Background: Fish contains high-quality omega-3 fatty acids, protein, vitamins, and minerals and due to this it is termed as an essential component of a balanced diet. But there have been concerns raised about the risks of consuming fish that is contaminated with toxins such as methylmercury, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins, pesticides, and plastic waste. Consumption of contaminated fish containing these pollutants is raising global mortality and morbidity rates. Scope and approaches: The review examines the current research outputs on the health benefits and potential health risks of fish consumption. The review also discusses various approaches to mitigating the health problems caused by fish consumption, highlights the roles of balancing the risks and benefits when consuming fish. Key findings and conclusion: Different findings indicated that contaminants cause cancer, kidney failure, adverse neurological effect, cardiovascular diseases, and so on to vulnerable groups such as pregnant, child breast-feeding and children. In conclusion, there is a need to get more tangible evidence about the advantages and disadvantages of fish consumption to safeguard the wellbeing of the society.