Microscopic life, such as zooplanktons often confuse microplastic particles for food, thus contributing to their malnutrition and exposing the fish and the entire food chain, including fish eaters, to toxic chemicals.
The warning was raised by Top Australian fishery veterinarian Dr. Matt Landos during a recent webinar that microplastics and plastics in general contain hazardous chemical additives and can acquire other toxic chemicals from other sources of aquatic pollution. Worse, he said, some of these toxic chemicals remain in the environment for decades and buildup in the food chain.
This is the reason why plastic materials and microplastic particles polluting the waters were found to be responsible for serious harm to aquatic life that then threatens the country’s food safety and security, Landos, director of the Future Fisheries Veterinary Service based in New South Wales, said in a news release.
“Zooplanktons are important in the aquatic food chain as these provide the ‘first meal’ for the fish in their early life. Those aquatic creatures that rely upon these zooplanktons further up the food chain suffer in a knock-on domino effect of starvation. Microplastics have already been detected in marine organisms from plankton to whales, in commercial seafood, and even in drinking water,” Landos explained.
These were the highlights of the newly released report of the International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN) entitled Aquatic Pollutants in Oceans and Fisheries that was presented in a recent forum that the network conducted with Oceana and Ecowaste Coalition.
The report also emphasizes that most plastic chemicals are toxic, and microplastics attract, concentrate, and magnify other persistent toxic chemicals from the surrounding aquatic environment onto their surfaces.
“The government should act on preventing the impacts of toxic chemicals in plastic production, use, and disposal to also address their effects to the environment and public health,” said Chinkie Peliňo Golle, executive director of IPEN.
Oceana vice president Gloria Estenzo Ramos said the primary source of plastic pollution problem is single-use plastic—items meant to be used just once and then discarded—become microplastics that take hundreds or even thousands of years to decompose, wreaking havoc to the environment.
“Even larger plastics such as polyethylene plastic bags cause direct threats to whales and turtles as they get inadvertently ingested, and cause blockages to the gut,” Ramos added.
The Oceana executive said several countries are already taking action to reduce microplastics in the environment. A 2017 United Nations resolution discussed microplastics and the need for regulations to reduce this hazard to the oceans, their wildlife, and human health.
“While the Philippines has a law regarding solid waste management, implementation by the concerned government agencies remains lacking,” she noted.
The Waste Assessment Brand Audit 2019 report of the Global Alliance for Incinerators Alternatives (GAIA) showed that the country produced daily 164 million pieces of sachets, 48 million shopping bags and 45.2 million pieces of “labo” bags.
“We must do our part to help in rapidly reducing the use of plastics to address what is already an escalating problem of pandemic proportion,” Ramos said.