People who eat seafood may be also eating tiny pieces of plastic. The small pieces of plastic are called microplastics. They are tiny pieces of plastic from the waste and garbage that are in the seas and oceans. They are usually less than a millimeter wide. They are becoming more and more common in seafood such as oysters and mussels as well as other kinds of shellfish. Scientists say there are more than five trillion pieces of microplastic in our oceans. More and more are being added every day. Professor Richard Thompson, a marine biologist at Exeter University, said: "Hundreds of marine organisms encounter plastic at the sea surface or in the water…and many of those encounters are harmful if not fatal."
食用海產(chǎn)品的人可能同時進食了微小的塑料。這些小的塑料被稱作微塑料。它們是來自海洋中廢品和垃圾的微小塑料顆粒。它們的直徑通常小于一毫米。牡蠣,蚌類和其他貝類動物中的微塑料已經(jīng)越來越常見??茖W(xué)家表示,我們的大洋中有超過5兆個微塑料,而且每天都在增加。??巳卮髮W(xué)海洋生物學(xué)家Richard Thompson教授表示:“數(shù)百種海洋生物體在海面或海水中遭遇塑料制品,許多塑料并不致命,但是有害。”
Researchers from the University of Ghent in Belgium conducted a study into microplastics and marine life. They believe people eat up to 11,000 pieces of plastic in their food each year. The researchers said that only around 60 of these pieces stay in our body and the rest will disappear down the toilet. Sixty pieces of microplastic may not seem a lot but it will build up over time. They could eventually be bad for our health. Things are likely to get worse. The researchers added that by the end of the century, seafood eaters could consume as many as 780,000 pieces of plastic a year. That is likely to cause many health problems. Scientists say we need to recycle more and find alternatives to plastic.
來自比利時根特大學(xué)的研究人員對微塑料和海洋生物進行了一項調(diào)查。他們相信人們每年通過食物進食1.1萬個微塑料。研究人員表示,其中只有60個微塑料會留在我們的體內(nèi),其它的會通過糞便消失在馬桶中。60個微塑料聽上去并不多,但是會隨著時間不斷累積。它們最終會對健康有害,可能會更加糟糕。研究人員補充說,到本世紀末,吃海產(chǎn)品的人每年可能會攝入多達78萬個微塑料。這可能會導(dǎo)致許多健康問題??茖W(xué)家表示,我們需要回收更多塑料制品,找到塑料的替代品。