Shark microbes do not protect against cancer

Shark microbes have no anticancer effect as many people think, but even contain mercury, a dangerous substance for humans.

Shark microbes make millions of sharks lose their lives every year. Photo of Newtech

For centuries, Chinese people believe that shark is a symbol of power and wealth. In addition, it is also considered a medicinal god because there are many health effects - such as supplementing nutrients, increasing the sexual ability of men.

Livescience quoted experts from the US Food and Nutrition Information Center as saying that shark nutrition does not have as many miraculous effects as one might think. The main component of shark microbes is cartilage, which contains almost no vitamins.

Shark lovers claim that cartilage in the micro has many anti-cancer properties. This misconception stems from the fact that sharks never get cancer. But in fact cancer also attacks sharks. Scientists from the US National Cancer Institute have investigated the ability of shark shark to treat cancer by extracting a substance in the micro and then introducing it into many lung cancer patients.

' We want to find out if the extracts of shark microbes can prolong the life of cancer patients. Unfortunately, we found that the presence of that substance did not increase their life time , "said Charles Lu, an expert at MD Anderson Cancer Center in the US.

Scientists warn that, in fact, shark microbes can be harmful to health. Like many fish products, they contain large amounts of mercury due to water pollution in the oceans. As part of a high-class predator and located at the top of the food chain, the shark's body has higher mercury concentrations than most marine animals because mercury builds up with the food chain.

A report published in 2001 by Wild Aid found that the concentration of mercury in many shark microbes in Hong Kong is 42 times higher than the level that humans can tolerate. Hong Kong imports shark microbes from all over the world.

Mercury is a bioaccumulative toxin capable of invading the human body through the skin, respiratory system and digestive organs. Mercury vapor, its compounds and salts can cause brain and liver damage when exposed to human body. It can be fatal if it enters the body through the respiratory tract.

The California state legislature will vote on a bill that prohibits the act of owning and selling shark microbes. The main purpose of the bill is to prevent the development of the shark shark manufacturing industry. This industry leaves several million sharks lost every year.