Introduction: Microplastics may be present in food and drinks from various sources, exposing pregnant women to these particles. Consumption of contaminated food can lead to the ingestion of microplastics by pregnant women, potentially causing adverse health effects on the fetus. This study aims to investigate the presence of microplastics in the stools of pregnant women. Methods: The research was conducted in the Makassar City region of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Thirty healthy pregnant women from 2 community health centers, Pattingalloang and Jumpandang Baru, participated in the study. Their stools were analyzed using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) microspectroscopy to detect the presence of microplastics. Result: The analysis revealed the presence of a total of 359 microplastics in the participants’ stools, with particle counts ranging from 4 to 21 and sizes ranging from 0.2 to 4.9 mm per 25 g of stool. The polymers identified included Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), Polyamide/Nylon, Polyethylene Chlorinated, HDPE, and Ethylene Propylene. The amount of microplastics varied significantly among groups with different levels of seafood consumption. Conclusion: Indonesian pregnant women have been exposed to some microplastic polymers.

Water pollution by heavy metals due to discharge from gold mining activity has threatened the aquatic environment and human health of the community around Kao Bay. This report review explores the level of mercury and arsenic in the fish and the health risk of fish consumption within the community around Kao Bay. Fish from 10 spots in the bay were analyzed for mercury and arsenic using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry. Community members around Kao Bay were interviewed for details of their fish consumption. Daily intake of metals and health risk level were also calculated. All of the fish caught contained mercury (mean of 0.2110 ug/g) and arsenic (mean of 0.422 ug/g). This heavy metal concentration exceeds the allowable level for food standard. The human health risk assessment showed that the fish caught from Kao Bay were not safe for human consumption (RQ>1). The hazard risk quotient based on cancer and non-cancer was more than one. As many as 49 of 52 people living around Kao Bay have a risk from mercury and arsenic exposure via fish consumption. The magnitude of HQ and ECR values for most fish indicates that it is not safe for consumption.

Objectives: Schizophrenia is an organic disease and a severe mental disorder with a relatively high risk of relapse. The rising rate of schizophrenia relapse has motivated researchers and academics to innovate and develop interventions aimed at relapse prevention. This bibliometric study sought to examine the publication trends in schizophrenia relapse prevention from 1973 to 2023, assess the contribution of international collaborations across various journals, identify the most influential authors and articles, and forecast future developments in this field.Methods: The study included 683 articles obtained from the Scopus database, analyzed using VOSviewer software, and visualized with Tableau.Results: Reports of schizophrenia relapse prevention strategies have increased significantly over the last 3 decades. However, fluctuations persist, as evidenced by the annual number of publications ranging from 25 to 40 within the past 5 years. Nevertheless, this increasing trend underscores the sustained interest in this area of research. Regarding contribution size, the United States produced the largest volume of publications on this subject. John M. Kane authored the most articles, while Stefan Leucht exhibited the highest h-index. Frequently used keywords in this field include “relapse AND schizophrenia” AND “prevention.”Conclusions: These results represent an important reference for determining the current state of research on schizophrenia relapse prevention and future research directions.

Air laut tercemar, teknologi evaporasi, kondisi tambak garam, dan penggunaan kemasan plastik menjadi sumber pencemaran utama kontaminasi mikroplastik pada produk garam. Sumber pencemar yang beragam menyebabkan karakteristik mikroplastik yang ditemukan juga beragam. Tujuan Penelitian ini ialah untuk mengetahui karakteristik mikroplastik pada produk garam tradisional Kabupaten Jeneponto. Lima garam tradisional yang dibeli dari lima petani garam menjadi sampel penelitian. Hasil menunjukkan seluruh sampel mengandung mikroplastik. Kelimpahan mikroplastik pada garam tradisional mencapai 914,67 partikel/kg garam. Bentuk mikroplastik fragmen lebih mendominasi. Terdapat 8 warna mikroplastik dengan ukuran berkisar 0,017 – 4,534 mm. Disarankan agar petani garam memberi perhatian pada penyimpanan dan pengemasan garam.

To describe the presence of bacteria at the seller's hand of meatball vendors and cart meatball bowls. This is a descriptive study with an observational approach. Thirty mobile meatball vendors were recruited as participants. Therefore, the bacterias from bowls and hands were taken by swab sampling. The number of bacterias were obtained using total plate count method by means of nutrient agar. Bacteria types were identified using Gram staining method and bacteria assay. The hands and bowls swab samples were positive for Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria in all cases. These microorganisms include Acinetobacter calcoaceticus, Klebsiella sp., Alcaligenes faecalis, Enterobacter aglomereus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter aerogenes, Enterobacter cloacae, and Staphylococcus saprophyticus, Serratia rubidaea, Yersinia enterocolitica, E. aerogenes, and Staphylococcus epidermidis. Some types of bacterias were present in cart meatball bowls and the sellers' hands. This phenomenon is affiliated with the emergence of food-borne diseases for the consumers.

The purpose of this study is to describe the personal hygiene and sanitation of food cutlery (bowl) on meatball cart traders at Makassar City. This research using descriptive observational with non-probability sampling techniques and accidental sampling method. 80% respondents had good personal hygiene. Almost all respondents qualify the requirement of hand and finger hygiene, as well as hair hygiene. For clothes hygiene indicators, most qualify the requirements. As for the indicators of handwashing practices and the use of gloves, all respondents did not qualify the requirements. While the results of research related to food cutlery sanitation showed that knowledge that 86.7% were high, but many still did not know washing water requirements and bowl conditions when in storage. Most handlers attitude was categorized as adequate. It is suggested that the meatball cart traders always pay attention to hand hygiene and sanitation of cutlery to avoid bacterial contamination.