New Link in the Food Chain? Marine Plastic Pollution and Seafood Safety

Investigators are researching whether consumption of plastic debris by marine organisms translates into toxic exposures for people who eat seafood.© Alex RM/Alamy Different marine plastics resemble foods eaten at various trophic levels. These plastic bags look like the jellyfish eaten by turtles.© Norbert Wu/Minden Pictures/Corbis Plastic debris can travel far from its point of departure—this beach in Svalbard, Norway, for instance, is only about 600 miles from the North Pole. A 2014 study reported finding large quantities of microplastics frozen into Arctic ice.52© Ashley Cooper/Corbis Ocean currents carry plastic debris into the five major ocean gyres. Thousands of tons of microplastics are estimated to bob in these gyres, but more than half of all plastic debris likely sinks upon reaching ocean waters.© Jane Whitney Small plastic pellets known as nurdles are used as a feedstock for producing plastic goods. In July 2012 Typhoon Vicente swept more than 165 tons of nurdles from a cargo ship off the coast of Hong Kong.53© Nigel Cattlin/Science Source Polyethylene microbeads (orange, shown with yellow flakes of silica) are used as exfoliants in many personal care products. In June 2014 Illinois became the first U.S. state to ban the manufacture and sale of products containing microbeads, which are small enough to slip through filters at wastewater treatment plants.© Steve...
Source: EHP Research - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: Featured Focus News Bisphenol A (BPA) Dioxins and Furans Ecology and Wildlife Endocrine Disruptors February 2015 Flame Retardants Food Safety and Regulation Marine and Coastal Science Nanomaterials Personal Care Products Phthalat Source Type: research