Crustaceans start eating synthetic resin

At our dining table, sooner or later there will be seafood stuffed with toxic plastic micro-molecules. The diet of marine life has changed - fish and shrimp have to absorb the microparticles of virtually no matter from synthetic resin. It is a warning by Russian and American scientists after a common animal survey in the Pacific.

The ocean ecosystem has changed dramatically, scientists from the Scripps Ocean Institute (California) and the Russian Institute of Oceanography named Shirshov (Moscow) said. In a joint project, they studied the status of Pacific animals in the most polluted areas - for example, in the North Pacific today. Turns out, the main victims of human irresponsibility are crustaceans - squid, lobster and oysters. Of course, when eating these seafood, humans may be affected, scientists warn.

Photo: inazumanews2.com

Oceanographers found that the crustaceans' menu became completely different. They often eat plankton and small larvae. But research results show that at least one-third of individuals absorb micro-plastic molecules suspended in water like plankton. That is the unusual behavior of crustaceans. As a rule, they filter seawater and absorb organic particles, the oceanographer Pavel Belov said.'Suddenly appearing omnivorous inks and lobsters is a serious change in the ocean ecosystem, he said. It was previously thought that only turtles, fish and poultry swallowed plastic molecules ".

From the number of 385 samples of crab and crab caught, 130 children have to swallow 2-5 plastic molecules. " The animals have eaten garbage but according to chemical analysis containing toxins," Belov said. There are the most voracious squid that immediately swallow up to 30 micro particles of plastic. "If a person eats a squid like that, then it is inevitable that poisoning will be" - warned the oceanographer.

It is clear that this change takes place in the diet of crustaceans that will affect other marine species. Plastic is a kind of material that is hard to dissolve. According to the food chain, this process will go from squid to big fish and other marine animals. Literally, there are days when the Pacific fauna will mix with synthetic resins, study co-author Miriam Fildshteyn said.