Saltwater fish are accustomed to eat plastic – Murmansk bulletin

 
 

Fish in the oceans from an early age have adapted to eat plastic waste, just as the children get used to eating unhealthy fast food, says BBC Russian

 
 

The Swedish researchers found that the availability of sea water of high concentration of particles of polystyrene is addictive to them fry grouper. Their article about it was published in the journal Science.V result, it slows their growth and makes them more vulnerable to predators, scientists believe.

The researchers are calling for a ban on the use in cosmetic plastic microgranules product.

in recent years, there are more warning signs of increasing concentrations of plastic debris in the oceans.

According to a last year’s study annually in the oceans comes to 8 million tons of plastic.

under the influence of ultraviolet radiation, chemical processes and mechanical destruction under the blows of the waves, this plastic garbage quickly breaks down into smaller particles.

The particles smaller than 5 mm are called microplastics. The term also includes microspheres used in cosmetic products, such as scrubs, exfoliating products or cleaning gels.

Biologists have long warned that the microparticles may accumulate in the digestive system of marine animals and release toxic substances.

The Swedish researchers conducted a series of experiments, in which analyzed the growth of juvenile redfish by feeding them plastic microparticles in various concentrations.

in the absence of such particles is about 96% of the eggs successfully transformed into fry. The water tanks with a high concentration of microplastics this figure decreased to 81%.

Those fry that hatch in a littered the water, appeared smaller, slower moving and had poorer ability navigate the environment, says the head of a group of scientists Dr. Una Lonnshtedt from the University of Uppsala.

at a meeting with predators about 50% of the fry raised in clean water, survived for days. Fry is grown in tanks with very high concentration of microparticles in the same period fell all.

But the most unexpected for scientists were about preferences in food data that have changed in the new conditions of fish habitat.

“All the fry were able to feed on zooplankton, but they preferred to eat the plastic particles. probably, plastic has a chemical or physical attraction, which stimulates nutrient reflex in fish” – says Dr. Lonnshtedt

“Roughly speaking, the plastic makes them think that this is some kind of a highly food this is very similar to the behavior of teenagers who love to fill your stomach with any nonsense.. “- adds the scientist

The study authors attributed a decrease in the number of fish species such as sea bass and pike in the Baltic sea for the past 20 years, with an increase in mortality of juveniles of these species. They argue that if the plastic microparticles really affect the growth and behavior of fish fingerlings in different species, it will have a profound impact on marine ecosystems.

The US is already banned the use of plastic microgranules in cosmetic products, and in Europe there is a growing struggle for the introduction of a similar ban

“We are not talking about pharmaceutical products, and just about cosmetics -. of mascara for the eyes and some types of lipstick “-. said Dr. Lonnshtedt

in Britain, also distributed at the government level, the voices of those who propose to introduce a unilateral ban on the microgranules before this is done in the European Union.

This will be discussed next week at a meeting of the Committee for environmental assessment at the House of Commons.