Large amounts of "microplastics" were found in shellfish in Tokyo Bay and Okinawa coast, Japan
Beijing, June 18, according to Japanese media reports, a few days ago, professor Takada Xiuheavy of Tokyo A&M University of Japan and other teams confirmed that in Tokyo Bay and Okinawa Zama Island coast bivalve organisms in the body, a large amount of savings become a global scale Marine pollution problem of "microplastics".
Data map: shells.
Microplastics have been found in anchoveta in Tokyo Bay in the past, while microplastics have only been detected overseas in shellfish, according to the team. At present, there are more tiny particles in the bivalve species, 0.02 to 0.08 millimeters in diameter, which are easily ingested by organisms, the team said, adding that it is necessary to conduct a detailed investigation on the impact on the survival of shellfish and the ecological environment.
Between 2015 and 2017, the team investigated siphonoides and clams collected in Tokyo Bay in Tokyo and Kawasaki City, as well as in Zama Mijima Island.
Microplastics were detected in all 27 shellfish collected. The shellfish from Zama Mijima had the highest number of microplastic particles, with 23 particles per gram. Shellfish from the mouth of Tokyo Bay also had more particles, and sea bows from Kawasaki City had 10 particles per gram. Fibrous microplastics, which have rarely been detected in living organisms in Japan and China, have also been confirmed. According to Japanese media, there is a large amount of plastic waste on the coast of Zama Mijima island, which may be the reason for the high number of particles in the shellfish.
A team including Brunel University in the United Kingdom published a study this month saying that mussels sold on the market have a lot of microplastics stored in their bodies, and the contamination of shellfish is likely to spread around the world.It is reported that microplastics are particles less than 5 millimeters in diameter, which are generated by small debris in the ocean. During the Group of Seven (G7) summit in June, the European Union and Canada adopted a document with numerical targets for reducing plastic waste in the ocean, but Japan and the United States refused to sign it, causing renewed concern.