Serious pollution of the Romanian Black Sea coast with microplastics shows a study by a group of researchers from the National Institute for Marine Research and Development “Grigore Antipa“ in Constanta, reports Digi24, BTA reported.
Experts warn that harmful particles from fish and mollusks fall directly onto plates, and this poses a great risk to human health.
According to the data released, 93.3 percent of the analyzed specimens of sprat and rapani, as well as 66.7 percent of the mussels from the Romanian coast are contaminated. They found plastic fragments smaller than 5 millimeters in size.
As the main reason for the situation, the researchers point to the proximity to the mouth of the Danube River, which brings tons of plastic into the Black Sea. They compared the results obtained on the Romanian Black Sea coast with studies conducted by Bulgarian researchers in the regions of Varna and Burgas.
A higher frequency of microplastics was found in the species collected on the Romanian coast.
The specialists recall that it takes between 200 and 400 years for plastic to decompose.