A lot of plastic garbage inevitably ends up in our waterways and oceans. Bottle caps, toys, plastic bags, and jugs are just some of the things that get washed into our oceans. But these aren’t the only source of oceanic plastic trash. Consumer products like toothpaste and facewash contain plastic microbeads that are used to provide scrubbing power, but they are too tiny to be filtered out by water treatment plants after they’re washed down the drain. Salmon and other creatures than feed on these microplastics by mistaking it for food or by feeding on zooplankton that have eaten the plastic.

Researchers once thought that microplastics ingested by fish remained in their guts. Removing their entrails before serving appeared to eliminate the risk of eating plastic. But new research is beginning to suggest that these tiny bits of plastic might actually move into fish flesh.

Plastic is now part of our food system and seafood is the third largest contributor of chemical-laden microplastics. What consuming all this plastic means for human health is hard to say, but it’s probably not good. Persistent chemicals like PCB’s and other contaminants in our waterways glom onto particle surfaces and carry endocrine-disrupting bisphenols, phthalates, and other toxic additives.

So, who is responsible and what can we do about it? These are not easy questions to answer but some of the things we can do is stop using products that contain plastic microbeads. Encourage governments to ban the sale of products that contain microbeads. Promote plastic take-back programs for plastics that are currently not recyclable. Use reusable bags and containers, not throwaways.

It remains to be seen whether or not we will successful wean ourselves off of disposable plastics but it’s a problem we should make every effort to combat.

Sources:

Article: https://thefern.org/2019/09/todays-special-grilled-salmon-laced-with-plastic/

Image: https://www.multipure.com/purely-social/science/dangers-microplastics-drinking-water/