Microplastics and parasites: A real issue for the Western Mediterranean fishes

Plastic is present at all times in our daily lives. In just a few years it has become present in all types of objects and materials due to its characteristics (flexibility, durability and lightness) and its low price; and at the moment one of the most serious problems facing humanity is environmental pollution from plastic waste, most of which is not biodegradable and lasts for many centuries.

An example is the case of the straws of multinationals such as Burger King or McDonalds for soft drinks that after a few minutes of use already become waste and can take up to 500 years to decompose. In Spain they consume about 13 million a day, thus becoming the country in Europe that consumes more disposable drinks.

 

For this reason, many studies are being carried out in recent years on this environmental issue as in the long run it could cause catastrophes on our planet.

 

Going on with marine life, 58% of sardines and 60% of anchovies have ingested microplastics. So is very important to know  what kind of an impact this will have on people who eat these fish and also which direct impact has that on our planet

 

Researchers  have found that fish with microplastics in their digestive system also had many types of parasites such as larvae, trematodes and nematodes (a type of worm) and generally had a worse body condition. 

 

One of the scientific community’s great concerns is what kind of an impact the presence of intestinal microplastics may have on the food chain. “If the food chain is deteriorated, that has a great impact. These fish are the main food source for many organisms, whether commercially fished or not. Whatever happens to them will also happen to all the species that feed on them. Microplastics can cause many harmful effects collected ,such as,carcinogenic conditions practically throughout the life cycle of plastics, cardiovascular conditions with the ingestion of microplastics, diseases related to the nervous or reproductive system, as well as immunosuppressive diseases, among other impacts.

 

It´s important to remark that big entities dump up to 13 million tons of plastic into the ocean every year, killing around 100,000 marine species, according to the United Nations. To this staggering amount of litter must be added microplastics, so tiny that they are impossible to eliminate, at least for now.

 

The production and use of microplastics has been increasing since 1950 with 2 million of tones to 300 million tons globally in 2017.

 

But is it possible to reduce the amount of microplastics to produce the same amount of plastics as 1950 so the production of plastics won´t cause so much damage?

 

Experts say that there is no an easy solution, “it is obvious that we need to reduce single-use plastics; to make sure that the plastic we do consume is truly essential; and that when we discard it, it will be properly managed so it doesn’t end up in the ocean.

 

By the time plastic reaches the oceans, things get much more difficult. What's already in the sea is out of control and it can´t be rescued. We can only count 1% of the plastic out there, 99% is lost at the bottom of the sea, in the water columns or inside organisms. The most feasible solution, at least for now, is to try to change their minds to the big entities that are the main reason of the problem to introduce some measures to prevent the plastic from reaching the ocean so we can control the situation of the microplastics .