Team:TAS Taipei/Human Practices

TAS_Taipei

HUMAN PRACTICES

Contacting Professionals

Dr. Aaron M. Kyle - Design Mindset

Dr. Aaron Kyle, a Senior Lecturer of Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University, was our school’s visiting scholar this January. We had the privilege of listening to Dr. Kyle speak about the importance of a "design mindset", which he emphasizes in his teaching.

Figure 1. Dr. Aaron Kyle talks to us about the importance of design
mindset and helped provide inspiration for our visible color spray for
detecting Agricultural residues (Photo from Taipei American School)

He introduced many of his students’ projects, including the winning design for the Columbia Design Challenge: Confronting the Ebola Crisis (Columbia Magazine, 2014). To improve the decontamination of biohazard suits, Dr. Kyle’s students designed a bleach spray with a blue dye which would help visualize the sterilized areas.

Figures 2 and 3. Blue colored bleach spray to show areas that have been disinfected on biohazard suits. Left: (National Public Radio, 2014)
Right: (Columbia Magazine, 2014)

Amazed by the simple and elegant design of these biohazard suits, we were inspired to use a similar method to detect agricultural contaminants. We envisioned our final product to be a spray containing colored binding proteins that target common agricultural residues on food products, allowing users to visually detect the contaminated areas.

Tse Xin Organic Agricultural Foundation (TOAF)

Figure 4. TAS_Taipei team with Mr. Chen,
Rung-Tsung from Tse Xin Organic Agricultural
Foundation

We made efforts to understand how the Taiwanese government regulates pesticide and heavy metal contaminants. Because our goal of supporting environment-friendly agricultural practices is compatible with that of Tse Xin Organic Agricultural Foundation (TOAF), we donated the money we won from the TASMUN MUN Impact Competition to assist them in promoting sustainable agriculture. We also interviewed Tse Xin about sustainable agricultural methods and residue regulations.

From our interview, we learned more about organic farming standards. To become certified as organic farms, government agencies and certified companies assess farms at least once a year with tests for around 375 different pesticides and inspect nearby water and soil sources. To pass regulations, farmers must use substances that pass the standards of organic farming. According to Tse Xin, though organic farms pass 98% of pesticide residue level tests, organic farms constitute only 1.2% of total farmland in Taiwan. Thus, we wanted to support Tse Xin with their goals of encouraging farmers to “go organic” through our donation.

(Interview by Eugene C., Kimberly H., Jill L.)

Food Safety Testing Laboratory at Chang Gung University

Figures 5 and 6.
Left: TAS_Taipei team with Dr. Chiu and Mr. Lee. Right: Current instrumentation used to analyze agricultural residues at the Chang Gung University Food Safety Testing Laboratory.

We visited the Food Safety Testing Laboratory at Chang Gung University of Science and Technology to gain further insight into the current testing procedure and regulation of food residues. There, we interviewed Dr. Chun-Hui Chiu, the lab’s Quality Supervisor, and Mr. Yu-Tsung Lee, the Technical Supervisor.

Dr. Chiu and Mr. Lee showed us the instrumentation they use to measure the concentrations of pesticides and heavy metal residues in food samples: Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spec (LC/MS/MS) and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spec (GC/MS/MS). The tools they use are not only extremely powerful and precise tools but also are very expensive (costing nearly $500,000 USD to buy both machines!). As a result, the process of residue-testing is expensive and inaccessible for non-professional use.

Aside from the instrumentation, we had the opportunity to discuss Taiwan’s current policy and regulations on food safety. Dr. Chiu and Mr. Lee advised us against having all distributors to publish their testing results as it will be hard to implement. Thus, we changed our original policy draft to only require distributors that have already been tested by the government to upload their results onto a pre-existing government website: Taiwan Agricultural Products Production Traceability System.

(Interview by Eugene C., Kimberly H., Jessica C., Vivian W.)

Public Opinion

Consumer Responses: Survey

To gain a better understanding of the public’s awareness of pesticide and heavy metal contamination, we created a survey that yielded nearly 500 responses. Our survey included general questions about consumers’ produce buying and cleaning habits, and their knowledge about pesticide and heavy metal residues in Taiwan.

According to our survey, 43% of consumers are aware that heavy metal and pesticide residues are not easily removed when cleaning produce; this may be why a vast 24% of consumers use “more promising methods of cleaning”, such as commercial fruit and vegetable cleaners. However, from our research, using these cleaners do not efficiently remove residues, but instead poses a greater risk of residual chemical contaminants if not rinsed properly (The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, n.d). This urged us to create an infographic to educate the public about the ineffectiveness of produce cleaners.

As the Taiwan FDA conducts random pesticide residue tests, we were curious about how frequently consumers think tested foods violate the FDA’s regulated limit. Interestingly, 44% of our respondents believed that less than 10% of tested samples exceed the FDA pesticide limit while only 22% of our respondents answered correctly (10 to 20% of tested samples); the public seems to have varying understanding of the intensity of the problem with pesticide residue in Taiwan.

We also found that 65% of consumers preferred a “fast and easy” method of detecting agricultural contaminants. Thus, we developed a product with color proteins that allowed us to see color instantaneously where residues are present.

(Whole team activity)

Figures 7 and 8. Information from our survey (n = 474) helped us with the design of our project & constructs.

Food Distributor Responses: Phone Interviews

We called approximately 40 produce distributors in Taiwan and Korea to learn about their understanding of heavy metal and pesticide residues on their food products. Surprisingly, almost half of the distributors either declined to respond, were unaware of how the detection of their produce occurred, or told us it was confidential information.

Among the 51% of distributors that tested for residues on produce, only 39% of distributors checked for pesticides and 22% checked for both pesticides and heavy metals. From this data, we see that many distributors do not check agricultural contaminants on produce diligently, thus increasing the health risks of the consumer. Not only this, but several distributors are also ignorant of how residue detection occurs on farms, trusting that the produce given to them have been tested for consumption beforehand. As a result, we wrote a policy proposal to suggest ways the government can ensure that test results are posted for consumers to view and to propose ways that could be used to spread awareness of the effects of heavy metals and pesticide contaminants. For more information regarding the policy proposal, please refer to our Policy Regulations section.

(Calls by Eugene C., Kimberly H., Daniel C., Jessica C., Dhirpal S., Jill L., Anna C.)

Food Distributor Responses: Market Vendor Interview Trip

We visited produce markets to ask vendors about how they acquire their commercial food products, most of whom replied that they get it from distribution markets. As part of government regulations and checkups, government officials conduct random sampling of the produce sold at the market. Many of the farmers at the market say that they would use a detection device to avoid government punishments and to ensure their produce are safe for the consumers’ health. Through the interviews, we were able to understand not only the degree of public awareness on the level of pesticides and heavy metals residue but also the public’s opinion on whether they would use our product.

(Interviews by Eugene C., Kimberly H., Vivian W., Dhirpal S., Jessie H., Jill L., Ryan K., Daniel C., Anna C., Yasmin L.)

Figure 9. TAS_Taipei team at a local market in Taipei

Food Producer Responses: Organic Amateur Farmer

We had the opportunity to interview an amateur local farmer, Ms. Huang, to learn more about alternatives to pesticides and other responsible farming practices. As an organic farmer, Ms. Huang deters pests with a homemade chili pepper spray, traps insects with bottles lined with glue, and uses organic fertilizers. When asked about her stance on pesticide usage, Ms. Huang says she believes the health risks of synthetic pesticides do not outweigh their effectiveness in increasing crop yields. She also sends soil samples from her farmland to a testing center to ensure she maintains safe heavy metal levels.

(Interview by Jessica C., Eugene C., Vivian W.)

Figure 10. TAS_Taipei team with organic farmer Ms. Huang

Producer Responses: Hope Farmers’ Market Interview

We visited Hope Plaza Farmers’ Market in Taipei, a market that provides accessible product information and pesticide testing for the consumers (Travel King, n.d.). When we interviewed producers about their awareness of agricultural contaminants, we learned that Hope Plaza is managed with a pesticide residue testing center adjacent to the market that tests 20 vendors every week. Officials in the testing center conduct rapid tests and post the results at the market entrance. To ensure responsible agricultural practices, samples that violate the allowed residue levels are sent to external testing centers for further analysis. The vendor may then be prohibited from selling that produce or even removed from the market.

Through our visit, we can see the government’s efforts to improve transparency between producers and consumers in Taiwan. However, we believe these efforts can still be greatly improved, seeing that this market is the first and only market that tests for pesticides directly.

(Interview by Vivian W., Eugene C.)

Figure 11. TAS_Taipei team at the
Hope Farmers' Market.

Figure 12. Contaminants detection
results posted at the entrance of the
Hope Farmers’ Market.

Policy Regulations

Current Issues Surrounding Agricultural Contaminants

More than one thousand kinds of pesticides are used globally, and each one of them has a different toxic effect on humans from causing terminal diseases such as cancer to disorders such as endocrine and developmental disorders (World Health Organization, n.d). In fact, about 200,000 to 300,000 people worldwide die every year from toxic exposure to pesticides (United Nations, 2017). Despite these dangers, 10 to 15 percent of Taiwanese produce still breach the maximum residue levels, which is drastically higher than those tested by the European Union and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration at only 2 percent (European Union, 2019). In fact, this August, “21.6 percent of the tested items in Taipei had pesticide residue exceeding” the MRLs, according to Taipei Times, which is much higher than the average 10-15 % reported by the Taiwanese FDA (Taipei Times 2019).

To further understand why so many produce in Taiwan surpasses the Maximum Residue Level (MRL) set by the Taiwanese government, compared to other countries, we reached out to producers, distributors, and governmental organizations such as the Taiwanese FDA to ask about relevant policies related to contaminant testing and how the produce in Taiwan are tested. We found that to ensure the validity of data about agricultural residues, the government would fine the producers or distributors with NTD$60,000 to NTD$200 million if they do not meet the MRLs. Despite the fines that the government charges, there are still 21.6% of produce in Taiwan that exceed the MRL in 2019, which urged us to create this policy to better tackle the problem of agricultural contaminants on produce (Lee, 2019).

Policy Proposal - Changing Current Practices

With the detrimental effects of pesticides and heavy metal residues on produce, it is clear that agricultural contaminants are a prevalent problem that should be addressed immediately. Through our surveys, we saw that the three sections - producers, distributors, and consumers - lack communication with each other about the produce they grow, sell, and consume. We believe that improving the current QR code implementations by enforcing the uploading of testing reports on Taiwan Agricultural Products Production Traceability System (TAPPTS) and by adding warning labels on the stickers on produce to facilitate communication between these sectors will be an effective solution.

Click to View our Policy Brief

The Council of Agriculture replied to our policy proposal of adding warning messages on the QR label stickers of produce by stating that "the COA will take [the proposal] into consideration when making changes to its policy."

Response from Council of Agriculture

Response from Taiwan Food and Drug Administration

(Written by Jessica C., Kimberly H., Eugene C.)

iGEMxSustainable Development Goals

iGEM provides such a great way to potentially make a real difference in the world. In this section, we outline a number of ways in which we increased the reach of iGEM through Model United Nations and a world-wide collaboration effort to tackle to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

TASMUN Conference + MUN Impact

In April 2019, TAS hosted its annual Taipei American School Model United Nations (TASMUN) conference. Over 700 participants attended from countries all over Asia. Unlike conventional MUN (Model United Nations) conferences, the theme of this conference was MUN Impact and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs (17 in total) are a set of goals created by the United Nations that they hope to achieve by 2030. MUN Impact encourages high school students to use the SDGs as a framework to create projects and tackle global issues.

Figure 13. United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (United Nation, 2019)

From the TASMUN conference, we realized MUN’s vast platform - consisting of middle school, high school, and college students around the world - could be used to spread awareness about iGEM and synthetic biology (Ryan, 2007). On the other hand, we also discovered that iGEM could assist MUN in transforming their ideas and resolutions into actions. Therefore, our team presented at TASMUN to help inspire those participating in MUN to join iGEM in order to actually make an impact on the problems they learn and discuss.

At this conference, we presented our iGEM project on the Detection of Agricultural Residues, and how it addresses three of the SDGs:

In addition to the presentation, we also put together a video to briefly describe our project and the SDGs we addressed. The delegates of the conference voted on all participating projects, and we were honored to receive the General Assembly Award of the 2019 TASMUN MUN Impact Competition.

Watch our video below, and click to learn more about MUN Impact and the SDGs! Here is also our mention on the MUN Impact website.

(Presentation by Iris H; Video featuring Daniel C, Eugene C, Jessie H, and video edited by Alexander C)

iGEMxSDGs Instagram and Twitter Challenge

To further spread the SDGs within the iGEM community, we collaborated with iGEM teams Tuebingen and Costa Rica to organize an Instagram Challenge with the hashtags #igemxsdgs and #igemxsdgschallenge.

iGEM team Costa Rica created a webpage as a platform for our social media challenge. This page allows teams to select up to 4 individual SDGs that relate to their project and download the template, as shown below, to post. In addition to the webpage, we created an Instagram account (@igemxsdgs) to promote our challenge and further stress the impact SDGs can have on all iGEM projects. Similar to the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge several years ago, each team, along with their post, mentions four other teams in their caption to invite them to complete the challenge. The challenge was extremely popular with over 60 participating teams; it even spread to other platforms such as Twitter. View our collaborations page for more information about our challenge and the teams that participated.

(Organized by Eugene C., Jessica C., Kimberly H., Vivian W.)

Figure 14. TAS_Taipei participating in the
iGEMxSDGs Instagram Challenge

World-Wide Sustainable Development Goals Video Conference

On September 14th, 21:00 pm (GMT +8), we launched our iGEM x Sustainable Development Goals Video Conference. A total of 7 high school and college iGEM teams (iGEM UM_Macau, Tuebingen, Costa Rica, MSP-Maastricht, Tartu Tuit, Greatbay_SZ, Toronto) attended our conference to discuss the correlation of their project’s goal with the SDGs. Prior to the conference, we asked teams to create a video to briefly introduce their iGEM project and bridge it with specific SDGs. During the conference, each team first recapped their video. Then, teams had time to discuss and answer each others’ questions; most of the questions pertained to roadblocks each team faced, applications of their projects to society, successful aspects of their projects, and changes in perspective due to the conference. Through this discussion, we improved our understanding of each others' projects and raised awareness about the SDGs within the iGEM community.

(Conference organized by Eugene C., Kimberly H., Jessica C.)

Figure 15. Participants in our video conference were able to share how their projects
helped tackle the SDGs.

References

Columbia Magazine. (2014). Necessity’s Inventions: Design Challenge Takes Aim at Ebola. Retrieved from https://magazine.columbia.edu/article/necessitys-inventions-design-challenge-takes-aim-ebola.

European Union. (2018). Maximum Residue Levels. Retrieved from https://ec.europa.eu/food/plant/pesticides/max_residue_levels_en

European Union. (2019). The 2017 European Union report on pesticide residues in food. EFSA Journal, 17(6). doi: 10.2903/j.efsa.2019.5743.

Great Taipei Travel. (Travel King). (n.d.). The Hope Plaza Farmers’ Market. Retrieved from https://www.travelking.com.tw/eng/tourguide/taipei/the-hope-plaza-farmers-market.html.

Lee, I-chia. (2019). Taipei Times: Excessive pesticide residue on fruits, veggies in Taipei. Retrieved from http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2019/10/03/2003723308.

National Public Radio. (2014). From Blue Bleach To Hazmat Hacks, Students Take On Ebola Challenges. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2014/11/05/361445017/from-blue-bleach-to-hazmat-hacks-students-take-on-ebola-challenge.

Ryan. (2007). Best Delegate. Retrieved from https://bestdelegate.com/how-big-is-model-united-nations/.

The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station. (n.d). Removal of Trace Pesticide Residues from Produce. Retrieved from https://portal.ct.gov/CAES/Fact-Sheets/Analytical-Chemistry/Removal-of-Trace-Pesticide-Residues-from-Produce.

United Nations. (2017). Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food. Retrieved from https://undocs.org/en/A/HRC/34/48.

United Nations. (2019). Sustainable Development Goals. Retrieved from https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300.

World Health Organization. (n.d.). Pesticide Residues in Food. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/pesticide-residues-in-food.