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73 Percent of Fish In the Northwestern Atlantic Have Microplastics In Their Guts
According to a new study published today in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science, microplastics have been found in the stomachs of nearly three out of every four mesopelagic fish caught in the Northwest Atlantic. "These findings are worrying, as the affected fish could spread microplastics throughout the ocean," reports Phys.Org. "The fish are also prey for fish eaten by humans, meaning that microplastics could indirectly contaminate our food supply through the transfer of associated microplastic toxins." From the report: Microplastics are small plastic fragments that have accumulated in the marine environment following decades of pollution. These fragments can cause significant issues for marine organisms that ingest them, including inflammation, reduced feeding and weight-loss. Microplastic contamination may also spread from organism to organism when prey is eaten by predators. Since the fragments can bind to chemical pollutants, these associated toxins could accumulate in predator species. Mesopelagic fish serve as a food source for a large variety of marine animals, including tuna, swordfish, dolphins, seals and sea birds. Typically living at depths of 200-1,000 meters, these fish swim to the surface at night to feed then return to deeper waters during the day.
The researchers caught mesopelagic fish at varying depths, then examined their stomachs for microplastics back in the lab. They used a specialized air filter so as not to introduce airborne plastic fibers from the lab environment. The team found a wide array of microplastics in the fish stomachs -- with a whopping 73% of the fish having ingested the pollutants.
The researchers caught mesopelagic fish at varying depths, then examined their stomachs for microplastics back in the lab. They used a specialized air filter so as not to introduce airborne plastic fibers from the lab environment. The team found a wide array of microplastics in the fish stomachs -- with a whopping 73% of the fish having ingested the pollutants.
He's got putin cum there.
And what percentage have grit in their guts? Or sand in their guts? Or bits of coral in their guts?
I can see where you're heading with this, but you haven't established anything special about microplastics in the food chain, vs other grit in the food chain. There's just nothing special about one class of inert crap, vs any other class of inert crap.
They didn't die of them, and neither will we. Rather than complaining about something you saw under a microscope why don't you do some research?
I'm not an "apologist" for polluters, it seems the oceans have become quite the dump for plastic waste, and it's a shame.
However...
Do these microplastics affect the fish's health and / or significantly impact their lifespan? If not then is there some other reason to be concerned?
If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
Good thing I don't eat the stomachs of fish. Now if their meat were contaminated with microplastics, then I might worry about it accumulating in my body. Some quick research suggests that microplastics bioaccumulate, as implied by the summary. What really irks me is that 'farm-raised' fish, which should theoretically be free of bioaccumulation problems present in the wild, are fed cut-up wild-caught fish, so the pollutants get fed to them anyway. Where's my grass-fed Kobe fish?!
Corruption is convincing someone that the selfless ideal is the same as their selfish ideal.
Stop eating plastic you dumb fish
Fish are comprised of small hydro-carbon molecules. What a surprise.
Who the fuck gets paid to publish this nonsense?
Does it go on forever?
That's just the plastic worms the geniuses used to catch the fish to study.
Every waste known to man, including nuclear, could be in the ocean.
A challenging problem to resolve. I would prolly welcome aliens who may help us reverse this. Not ruling out us figuring this out all by ourselves though.
233 fish gut contents from seven different species of mesopelagic fish were examined.
Ridiculously small sample.
They examined the stomach contents of fish. Okay.
They found "microplastics" in about three out of four fish. Okay.
How much? It couldn't be a lot, because they were worried about contaminating the samples with microplastics from the air itself.
That means that the amounts they were looking for were literally microscopic, and very, very low in volume.
It's more a testament to the ability to find incredibly small amounts of the stuff than any indication that the amount they found was large.
This is a lot like the "we found Fukushima radiation in the ocean off the US coast" story - where the amount of cesium was unimaginably small - three ATOMS of the stuff per cubic meter...
The problem seem to be that those microplastic bullet are by nature accumulating some chemicals on their surface you might not want to end in fish while floating in water (there were a few article last month about that), then releasing in while in the stomach of the fish. The problem is not per see the microplastic bullet, but those "rider" chemicals...
C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
visit randi.org
Luckily the Queen declared war on plastics:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/02/11/queen-declares-war-plastic-david-attenborough-documentary/
Of course, what the Queen doesn't mention is that the majority of her billions came from her share in Shell, which has been the most polluting company ever. I bet now she has seen the light, she's going to give those billions back, to fight plastic pollution.
i am pure veg
the affected fish are not even eaten by humans
tuna eat them, though
learn to read
By George Carlin:
The air and the water will recover, the earth will be renewed, and if it’s true that plastic is not degradable well, the planet will simply incorporate plastic into a new paradigm: the earth plus plastic.
The earth doesn’t share our prejudice towards plastic. Plastic came out of the earth. The earth probably sees plastic as just another one of its children. Could be the only reason the earth allows us to be spawned from it in the first place: it wanted plastic for itself. Didn’t know how to make it, needed us. Could be the answer to our age-old philosophical question, “Why are we here?” “Plastic, assholes.”
Right now, fish that are not farmed are advertised as "wild caught" because, you know, that sounds better. The term makes us think of pristine Alaskan streams. If farmed fish raised in filtered water canbe advertised as "plastic free," this will flip.
Eventually fish adapt and start digesting plastics. Earlier trash is future food.
I predict this will be the response after reading followup studies on ocean health.
Only their meat.
Theoretically sand doesn't leech dioxins into the fish's body. That's been mentioned in OP and TFA. You're the one claiming that plastic is inert, and I'd be interested in how you came to that conclusion.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
If that's too difficult for you to cope with, then try supplementing your diet with 20% decomposed plastic bags and get back to us.
It would be a new data point for science. So please proceed.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
Father owns a fishing business in a classic New England fishing town.
The size of his catch each year since 1980 has been the same size. The average fish size (which he keeps track of) has a plus/minus deviation of about a quarter kilo each year. That's 150 tons each haul.
More alarmist bullshite, just like the Mercury claims to try and clamp down on an otherwise very healthy blue collar trade.
This is not new info. Plastics pass through wastewater treatment plants and plastic left on beaches or or bays get into the oceans. Fish see this waste as food and eat it.
The Solar System and beyond is just too beautiful.
Thank God that the fish are taking the hit that otherwise would fall to us. It is wonderful that we throw the guts away and therefore this becomes the perfect filter to these demonic substances that pervade our food system.
Speaking of shit posters. Hi Ray!
I bet microsilicon particles too! everywhere! the beach is positively saturated with em! :P
different sizes, different shapes, all chemically inert in any reasonable metric.