Plastic waste challenge on Pacific island
Plastic waste in the oceans poses a potentially devastating long-term toxic threat to the food chain, according to marine scientists.
Studies suggest billions of microscopic plastic fragments drifting underwater are concentrating pollutants like DDT.
Most attention has focused on dangers that visible items of plastic waste pose to seabirds and other wildlife.
But researchers are warning that the risk of hidden contamination could be more serious.
Dr Richard Thompson of the University of Plymouth has investigated how plastic degrades in the water and how tiny marine organisms, such as barnacles and sand-hoppers, respond.
He told the BBC: “We know that plastics in the marine environment will accumulate and concentrate toxic chemicals from the surrounding seawater and you can get concentrations several thousand times greater than in the surrounding water on the surface of the plastic.
“Now there’s the potential for those chemicals to be released to those marine organisms if they then eat the plastic.”
More… ➡ (there’s a great little video here as well)
– research thanks to John K.