Japan Tsunami Debris Are Degrading Into Tiny Bits Of Plastic One year after a massive tsunami ravaged the east coast of Japan, much attention is focused on the bottles, refrigerators and other debris washed out to sea and its pending arrival on the U.S. West Coast -- endangering ships, seabirds and other wildlife along the way.Some experts, however, are more concerned about the debris we may never see but that might still pose a threat to human health."Over long periods of time, big plastics degrade into smaller and smaller particles, and these may create an additional route of exposure to certain chemical contaminants," said Courtney Arthur, a scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Marine Debris Program.As sunlight and waves break down plastic materials into pieces the size of fish food, new research suggests that fish may mistakenly eat the so-called microplastics and subsequently absorb chemicals into their bodies. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dioxins, among other toxins, could then travel up the food chain and onto our dinner plates.These pollutants have been linked to everything from hormone problems to neurological disorders to cancer in humans.So far, microplastic debris -- generally defined as particles less than one millimeter wide, or ...
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