When Eating Fish, People May Be Absorbing Plastic Chemical BPA
Published: 30 March 2009
Category: Bisphenol A (BPA), Packaging CONCERNS, Reproductive/Hormonal Changes, Sustainability
“The Japan Times” reports plastic debris is filling an approximately 13 million square kilometer area, called the Eastern Garbage Patch, off the coast of California. The ever-growing mass of plastic debris is not biodegradable, suffocating fish and choking marine turtles, and is said to already be larger than the United States. When these pieces of plastic meet other pollutants in the ocean, the results can reportedly be even more toxic, as the plastic debris reportedly absorbs harmful chemicals from the seawater it floats in, acting like a “pollution sponge” that concentrates those chemicals and poses a different, more insidious threat to marine and other life. Fish reportedly eat toxic plastics, which contain the estrogen-disrupting chemical bisphenol A (BPA), and those same toxins may be absorbed into the bodies of people who eat the fish.