This is what a team from Tel Aviv University wrote in the journal Marine Pollution Bulletin. The findings are alarming. Emphasizing that contact with microplastics is practically inevitable in the light of the results, the team points to risks for both the environment and human health.
Pollution sources are food packaging, disposable plastic products and fishing nets.
Ines Zucker’s team, together with Israel’s Mediterranean Research Center, investigated the level of pollution along the coast. For this purpose, samples were taken on six beaches between Haifa and Ashkelon.
Co-author Andrey Ethan Rubin said about the effects of about two tons of microplastic: “Due to environmental conditions, this plastic gradually breaks down into smaller particles.” The smaller these particles are, the harder it is to remove them from the environment and the more harmful they are to the environment and human health. “Plastic particles drifting into the sea are swallowed by fish and their remains end up in humans.”
In light of the results, researcher Zucker called for regulatory action to reduce Israel’s contribution to microplastic pollution in the Mediterranean. Microplastics generally refer to plastic particles less than five millimeters in diameter.
(SDA)