2023-07-01 05:50:00
“I ate it with unlimited refills” The dangerous secret of mussels, a regular snack [지구, 뭐래?]
Eating mussel soup [유튜브 배정길의 비밀레시피 캡처]
[헤럴드경제=주소현 기자] “I ate a lot of cold mussels… ”
Mussels and other shellfish are attracting attention as ‘cleaners of the sea’. This is because it can eat and eliminate microplastics, which are the main culprits of marine pollution.
The problem is when humans eat mussels that have eaten microplastics. Through mussels, microplastics accumulate in the human body, which can adversely affect health. In the midst of this, a study found that mussels that ate microplastics excreted them right away.
blue mussels [사이언스]
According to a study by Plymouth Marine Laboratory in the UK, published in the July issue of the Journal of Hazardous Materials, mussels can effectively help rid the ocean of microplastics.
Researchers found that blue mussels filter out regarding 240 microplastic particles per day. Even in water with a higher microplastic concentration, 300 blue mussels might remove up to 250,000 microplastic particles per hour.
The research team explained, “Microplastics are so small that they are invisible to the naked eye, so it is more convenient and effective to dispose of mussel excrement rather than removing them individually.”
sea microplastics [어스닷컴]
Microplastics refer to plastic particles smaller than 5 mm. Plastic, which was originally made fine or flowed into the sea, breaks down into fine pieces and becomes marine debris.
It is known to have excellent ability to remove microplastics such as mussels, shellfish, and shellfish. These creatures filter small prey out of the sand to eat it, as they inhale microplastics in the process.
The problem is when the microplastics eaten by the mussels are not excreted and accumulated in the body. Microplastics also accumulate in the body of humans who eat these mussels.
There is also a domestic study that microplastics have an adverse effect on mussels. A research team at the Environmental Toxicology Impact Research Center at the Institute for Safety Evaluation conducted an experiment in which mussels, a type of mussel, were soaked for 32 days in a mixture of microplastics at a concentration of 0.0005 to 100 mg in 1 liter of water. As a result, negative effects such as decreased fertility of mussels appeared.
mussel images [123rf]
While it is relatively clear that mussels eat microplastics, the results of various studies on microplastics remaining in mussels and their effects are mixed.
Park Joon-woo, head of the Center for Environmental Toxicology, explained, “Intake of marine products such as shellfish can be an important route for humans to be exposed to microplastics. did.
Meanwhile, it was found that the concentration of microplastics in Korean rivers is at a high level worldwide. In 2018, a research team from the University of Manchester in the UK announced a study result that the concentration of microplastics measured in the coasts of Incheon and Gyeonggi Province and the estuary of the Nakdong River was the second and third highest in the world.
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