Microplastics in Fish Fillets
How many plastic particles have been found in a serving of fish?
Microplastic pollution of our waterways may not only represent a threat to marine ecosystems, but also to human health. Clearly we are exposed to these contaminants when we eat shellfish, which can create a food safety risk. Are some shellfish less contaminated than others? The first published study I look in molluscs. By eating an average serving of mussels, you consume around 90 plastic particles, while an average serving of oysters may contain only around 50. “As a result, the annual dietary exposure for European seafood consumers can amount to 11,000 microplastics per anus”. However, we don’t know what kind of risk this carries. “However, due to their persistent nature, the abundance of microplastics in the marine environment will only increase.”
“It is inevitable that humans who eat shellfish ingest at least some microplastics, particularly in the case of species where all the soft meat is consumed, such as mussels, oysters, and small fish.” What about the sardines? researchers I look in the contamination of canned sardines and sprats with microplastics and mesoplastics (pieces of plastic larger than one millimeter). They investigated 20 brands of canned sardines and sprats from 13 countries on four continents and found plastic particles in about one in five. The researchers suggested that the disparity could be due to inadequate evisceration of the contaminated samples.
Us know that ingested microplastics can cross the intestinal wall of mammals and circulate throughout the body and even cross the placental barrier. Do microplastics really get into the muscles of fish, like a fish fillet? that’s the topic of my video How much microplastic is in fish fillets?.
If you compare the level of microplastics in eviscerated meat compared to removed organs, sometimes meat actually contains higher microplastic loads than organs,” highlighting that evisceration does not necessarily eliminate PM risk [microplastic] consumption by consumers. The researchers found that microplastics “with a wide variety of colors, shapes and sizes were detected in all investigated fish muscle samples. So they do actually get into the meat! The average intake of microplastics from eating snubhead, grouper, shrimp, mackerel, or barracuda can be hundreds of plastic particles per 300-gram serving, or just dozens of plastic particles in a 2-ounce serving for a child. “In addition to the physical injuries of parliamentarians [microplastics] ingestion”, particles can release absorbed contaminants, such as PCBs (PCB), as well as chemical additives for plastics, such as Bisphenol A (BPA), which, together, “can cause endocrine disruption, carcinogenesis, and mutagenesis,” that is, hormonal disruption, cancer risk, and DNA damage. “Therefore, although there is no standard dosage for [microplastics] PM ingestion, as well as information on the exact toxicity of different types of plastics on the human body, taking such high weekly doses [of these kinds of fish] may threaten the health of consumers (especially vulnerable groups, including pregnant and lactating women and children).”
In the United States, anthropogenic waste, that is, man-made materials, was found in one quarter of individual fish and two thirds of all fish species tested, and about one third of individual shellfish samples. This demonstrates that man-made debris “has infiltrated marine food webs” (the aquatic food chain) “down to the human level via shellfish. Because anthropogenic waste is associated with a cocktail of priority pollutants, some of which can be transferred to animals through ingestion, this…supports the concern that chemicals in anthropogenic waste could be transferred to humans via of diets containing fish and shellfish, raising important questions regarding the bioaccumulation and biomagnification of chemicals and consequences for human health. The study also included non-plastic waste, such as foams, films, and fibers, but know now that ingestion of microplastics “appears to be a widespread and pervasive phenomenon” in a number of commercially important molluscs, crustaceans and fish.
“The potential for humans, as top predators, to consume microplastics as contaminants in seafood is very real, and its health implications need to be considered…Despite considerable uncertainties and unknowns, there already exists a compelling case for urgent action. identify, control and, where possible, eliminate key sources of… microplastics before they reach the marine environment”.
For more on this topic, see in my videos Microplastic contamination and safety of fish and shellfish and Are microplastics in shellfish a cancer risk?.
What about the proposed benefits of eating fish? see my videos Omega 3 and the story of the eskimo fish and Is Fish Oil Just Snake Oil? Learn more.
