80% of fish in the Amazon River have plastic in the stomach

Plastic pollution in Amazon is alarming when scientists find worrying evidence.

In a study published in the journal Environmental Pollution, a team led by Marcelo Andrade from the Federal University of Paris in Brazil found signs of gastric plastic in a variety of fish in the Xingu River, one branch of the Amazon river.

Red-bellied piranhas are believed to be the most affected species.

"Plastic bags, plastic bottles and other products are polluting the Amazon water source and breaking down into micro-plastic particles that can directly or indirectly affect the fish's food chain , " the team said. .

In gastric analysis of 172 fish samples, the scientists found pieces of plastic ranging in size from 1 to 15 mm in the stomach of fish. In particular, even omnivores, herbivores and predators are found to have plastic in the stomach.

"It is a sad surprise because in the early stages of the study, we only set the main goal to learn about the ecological model of fish species.

But when we started analyzing the food in the stomach the fish species we found were plastic. These are alarming signs of pollution spreading throughout the Amazon basin, " researcher Tommaso Giarrizzo from the Paris Federal University told The Guardian.

The study highlights the problem of plastic pollution on Earth. The study also points out that the Amazon tributaries bring into the Atlantic each year 60,000 tons of plastic.

Previously, scientists also spent on micro plastic that was found in human feces.