Greenpeace warns of health risks of plastics in seafood

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/07/06
By: Yang Shu-min, Yu Hsiao-han and Elaine Hou

Taipei, July 6 (CNA) The environmental group Greenpeace warned on Wednesday of human exposure to and potential health effects of plastics that have entered the marine food chain, highlighting the issue of people consuming seafood contaminated by plastic particles.

About 800 tons of plastics enter the ocean every year, accounting for 60-80 percent of total maritime trash, Greenpeace said, while urging the government to take action to deal with the threat to consumers’ health now posed by plastic-contaminated seafood.

After the plastic debris has floated in the ocean for a while, it will likely become smaller “microplastics,” whose diameters are less than 5 millimeters, Greenpeace said.

These microplastics will enter the marine food chain, after they are eaten by marine plankton or fish. Toxic substances in the plastics, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), will contaminate fish and shellfish consumed by people, posing health risks, Greenpeace said.     [FULL  STORY]