Tiny bits of plastic are contaminating mussels from the European Arctic to China, a new study has revealed.
Tiny bits of plastic are contaminating mussels from the European Arctic to China, a new study has revealed.
Understanding the European Arctic to China
Tiny bits of plastic are contaminating mussels from the European Arctic to China, a new study has revealed. Mussels in apparently pristine Arctic waters had most plastic of any tested along the Norwegian coast, according to the researchers (stock image) Photo: Dailymail
Mussels in apparently pristine Arctic waters had the most plastic of any tested along the Norwegian coast, according to the researchers. The worrying discovery is a sign of the global spread of ocean pollution that can end up on people’s dinner plates.
A study by researchers from the Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA) found that plastic had been found in mussels in Arctic waters.
Amy Lusher, one of the researchers who worked on the study, said that plastics may be getting swept north by ocean currents and winds from Europe and America, ending up swirling around the Arctic Ocean.
Photo:bing
She said: ‘Microplastics have been found in mussels everywhere scientists have looked.’ Past surveys have found microplastics off nations including China, Chile, Canada, the UK, and Belgium. Off Norway, the mollusks contained on average 1.8 bits of microplastic – defined as smaller than 5 mm long (0.2 inches) – with 4.3 in the Arctic.
Last year, Chinese researchers suggested that mussels could be a global ‘bioindicator of microplastic pollution’ because the molluscs live on the seabed where many plastics end up and, Last year, Chinese researchers suggested that mussels could be a global ‘bioindicator of microplastic pollution’ because the molluscs live on the seabed where many plastics end up and, unlike fish, stay in the same place.
The impact of microplastics’ on marine life or humans, when eaten, is unclear. Scientists suspect you would have to eat vast amounts of shellfish to be at risk, straining even Belgian diets where moules et frites (mussels and French fries) are a favorite dish.
Past surveys have found microplastics off nations including China, Chile, Canada, Britain and Belgium (stock image) Photo: DailyMail
Professor Richard Thompson, an expert on microplastics at Plymouth University, said: ‘It’s a warning signal that we need to do something about reducing the input of plastic to the ocean.
‘It’s a cause for concern at the moment rather than an alarming story for human consumption.’
Almost 200 nations signed a UN resolution this month to eliminate plastic pollution in the seas, ranging from bottles to supermarket bags and food packaging, estimated at 8 million tonnes a year.
The impact of microplastics’ on marine life or humans when eaten is unclear. Scientists suspect you would have to eat vast amounts of shellfish to be at risk, straining even Belgian diets where moules et frites (mussels and French fries) are a favourite dish (stock image) Photo: Dailymail
Professor Thompson’s research has shown that extremely high levels of plastics in the seabed can harm animals such as lugworms living in the seabed and build up in their tissues.
But most bits of plastic simply pass through the guts of creatures from shellfish to humans.
Professor Thompson said human exposure to microplastics in seafood was likely to be below that from everyday plastics ranging from toys to fleece jackets.
China and the European Union are the top producers of farmed mussels in a global business worth £2.24 billion ($3 billion).
And scientists want to find out if microplastics might cause mussels or oysters to make pearls – in nature often produced to combat natural irritants like sand.
Pearls might raise the value of some shellfish but also break the teeth of unlucky diners, Ms Lusher said.
Source: Dailymail
