Seafood eaters consume up to 11,000 small pieces of plastic every year, study warns

Seafood eaters can eat up to 11,000 pieces of plastic a year, which can possibly cause long-term health issues, a recent study has warned.

Scientists at the University of Ghent, Belgium say that small pieces of plastic ingested along with seafood is a cause of concern.

Lead researcher Dr Colin Janssen says it needs to be established “where do they [plastic pieces] go? Are they encapsulated by tissue and forgotten about by the body, or are they causing inflammation or doing other things?”

He said that there could be a possibility that certain harmful chemicals in the plastics cling themselves to organs in the body and cause toxicity.

Humans themselves continue to be major contributors of sea pollution. Animals have been known to ingest plastic mistaking them for food. Turtles sometimes mistake plastic bags for jellyfish, for instance.

Perhaps it’s high time humans realise sea pollution isn’t hurting the animals only.