1/4 Of Fish (Different Species) Bought At SF Area Markets Had Plastic Clothing Fibers In Their Guts

[hatrack]

A significant amount of synthetic clothing fibers have been found inside fish caught off the Northern California coast and ending up on local dinner plates, according to a new study by environmental scientists at UC Davis. About a quarter of the 64 fish purchased at fish markets in Half Moon Bay and Princeton and analyzed for the study turned out to have bits of synthetic clothing in their guts, said lead researcher Chelsea Rochman, of the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.

The study, published Thursday in the journal of Scientific Reports, came on the heels of research by the San Francisco Estuary Institute that found the surface of San Francisco Bay to be heavily contaminated with plastic microbeads from cosmetics and plastic fibers from clothing.

In the UC Davis study, scientists randomly bought locally-caught fish at markets and dissected their guts at a laboratory in Davis. Plastic clothing fibers were found in the guts of about one-fourth of the smelt, anchovy, rockfish, bass, salmon, sanddab, cod and oysters.

Inadequate filtering by home laundry users and sewage treatment plants is suspected of being the source of the contamination, Rochman said.

EDIT

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Hey-waiter-this-fish-takes-like-plastic-6527514.php

[Demeter]

1. Since we don't eat fish guts, and the fish cannot digest the plastic

The fish are serving as aggregators of the plastics, taking it out of the water and concentrating it in the guts, which are then (I would hope) discarded on land, not dumped back in the seas...or put into pet food.

If the fish were dying from the plastic, that would be a real concern. But since they are filtering the oceans, that is a benefit to the oceans, the fish to come, and the rest of the ecosystem.

I advocate for proper disposal of the fish guts, to break the cycle of trashing the environment.

After all, there are grasses and plants known to aggregate toxins (heavy metals, organic solvents) thereby cleansing the contaminated soil left by dumping. These are another way of using Nature to purify itself. Proper disposal of the grasses (NOT recycling) is necessary.

By using the natural tendencies of Nature we can accelerate the return to a better, healthier ecosystem.

Planting forests (intelligently) is another example of how to replenish the Earth.

I figure the Earth has been sufficiently subdued already.

[LiberalEsto]

2. Too many microfiber clothes and fleece items n/t

[hunter]

3. I wonder how much plastic is in my guts...

... or automobile exhaust, brake pad, and tire particles


... or ... ???


It can't be good for us.

[bananas]

4. The Graduate "One Word: Plastics"