Is Seafood Safe from Microplastic Contamination? 

Can ingested plastic particles from fish reach our bloodstream?

Yon 1869, it was patented taken in search of a new substance to replace elephant ivory in the production of billiard balls, and the plastics industry was born. Ironically, what began as a conservation-oriented measure has turned on an environmental problem. Hundreds of thousands of tons of trillions of tiny plastic particles are now floating on the surface of the sea. These particles come from plastic objects, like water bottles, that wear down into smaller and smaller pieces, or from plastic microspheres that flow down the drains from our sinks.

“Plastic microspheres are often used as a cleaning agent in cosmetic and personal care products (PCCPs), such as facial cleansers, shower gels, and toothpastes.” And, “up to 94,500 microspheres could go down the drain in a single wash.” Then when you sail the oceans, you may find the same pearls you find in facial scrubs. Billions are issued in aquatic habitats every day in the United States. “This equates to 2.9 trillion accounts per year. If you line up these microspheres end to end… The United States emits enough microspheres to wrap the planet >7 times.”

As I discuss in my video Microplastic contamination and safety of fish and shellfishthe reason this can be a problem is that the plastic accumulates toxic compounds from the water and then transports them, along with any chemicals originally in the plastic, to marine organisms, concentrating up the food chain and eventually ending up on our plates. As such, possible dangerous effects in humans evidently include “chromosome alterations that lead to infertility, obesity and cancer.

Let’s step back and review the evidence. Plastic reaches the oceans, but does it really reach the fish? Yes, fish and other aquatic animals have been shown to ingest microplastics. But are we really eating fish that eat plastic? “Yes, we are eating fish that eat plastic. But don’t we poop out of plastic?

Small enough microparticles may be able to obtain absorbed through our intestinal wall and enter our bloodstream. This “uptake of ingested microparticles into the tissues of the small intestine and secondary organs has moved from being an anecdotal phenomenon to a recognized and quantifiable process”, but that was in rodents. Just because it’s been shown in a variety of laboratory animals doesn’t mean it happens in people. You don’t know until you put it to the test. The closest we have involves human placentas after delivery. The researchers found that the plastic microparticles could, in fact, cross the placental barrier of the maternal bloodstream. So if the particles could get into the circulation of a pregnant woman, they could also get into the circulation of her baby.

This is worrying because plastic waste can be a source of toxic chemicals, both the chemical additives in the plastic and the contaminants that the plastic stinks from water which can then be released into the body. Bisphenol A (BPA) is one of the chemical additives that can originate from the plastic itself. Since BPA concentrations have been measured in plastic debris, microplastics may be a significant source of BPA in shellfish. No one has really investigated it, until now: a study Yodoing research BPA levels in the edible parts of shellfish.

Yes, fish and other shellfish have some of the highest levels of BPA contamination, but is it just because the study looked at canned fish products like tuna and sardines? Manufacturers can use BPA directly in the lining of food cans, but “BPA can leach from plastic into the oceans, causing direct contamination of fish.” In fact, some argue that this environmental BPA contamination in the fish could be worse than the BPA in the cans themselves. You don’t know until you put it to the test.

At 3:56 in my video and shown below, you can see a graph with the levels of BPA found in canned seafood. The highest levels were found in tuna, cockles, sardines, and blue crabs, but since they were all canned, you don’t know how much is in the can compared to the animal until you look. not canned seafood. The study sometimes found even higher levels in some fresh shellfish, clams, flounder, and cod.

That’s not good, since the chemicals in plastics like BPA are known endocrine disruptors, ie known hormone disruptors. And, on top of that, fat-soluble contaminants from seawater can stick to microplastic surfaces and potentially present additional risk.

For more information on microplastics, see my videos Are microplastics in shellfish a cancer risk? and How much microplastic is in fish fillets?.