Indus river dolphins are remarkable creatures that evolved to live in rivers after their primary habitat, the old Tethys -Sea, became dry about 50 million years ago, according to the World Wildlife Fund.
Nowadays they are very threatened and are confronted with a new threat: microplastics.
A new study investigated the gastrointestinal channels of five deceased Indus river golves and found them heavily polluted with plastic waste.
What happens?
Since the construction of an irrigation facility, Indus river golves have been limited to a piece of 750 miles that extends from Pakistan to India, which dramatically decreases their population, according to the WWF.
This waterway is considered one of the most polluted in the world.
By investigating the gastrointestinal channels of deceased Indus rivier tol the or IRDs, researchers hoped to gain a better understanding of the impact that microplastics have on the environment and how they go up the food chain.
“Microplastics are transferred to the food chain, and IRDS, as top predators, accumulate them together with additives including bisphenols and phthalates, which are proven to be endocrine-displaying chemicals,” the authors of the study explained, according to the authors.org.
These substances “can cause digestive disease function, oxidative stress, immune disruption and reproductive toxicity, causing the health, survival and resilience of IRD populations to be collectively threatened,” the authors said.
The researchers discovered that many of the microplastic and nanoplastic particles in the guts of the dolphins were the same as those in their prey, which shows how plastic contamination moves from one species to another.
The study showed that 94.76% of the plastics found in the deceased dolphins were fiber, more than half of which were a cap.
“Polymers come from plastic ropes, fishing nets, plastic bottles and bags and drainage of agriculture, which suggests that their accumulation through intensive anthropomorphic interventions,” the authors said according to Phys.org.
In other words, the study has some doubt that plastic waste from human activities was to blame.
Why is plastic pollution important?
Microplastic particles have now polluted every corner of the world and even our own bodies. Although much still needs to be learned about the precise ways in which microplastics influence living bodies and the environment, experts have known that they have caused a high degree of concern.
“There are so many strangers, but we see more data that suggests that Microplastics influence human biology,” said Bernardo Lemos of th Chan School of Public Health of Harvard University, according to the Harvard Medicine publication.
Microplastics have been observed that the living bodies on cellular and even genetic levels disrupt, which causes disorders that are well -recognized precursors for cancer, according to Harvard Medicine.
Microplastic pollution has also been found to contaminate food sources, soil, water stocks and even the air that we breathe in, which influences the environment and, ultimately, human health.
What is being done about it?
The only way to greatly reduce the amount of plastic pollution that comes into the environment and our body is to greatly reduce the production of new plastic. With only a small part of the plastic used that is recycled, and many plastic materials that are not recyclable, the world cannot recycle from the plastic problem.
The world produces more than 500 million tons of plastic every year, of which about 22 million tons in the oceans in the world, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.
Although cutting off the plastic production requires a huge company with international cooperation, there are still steps that we can all take on an individual level to make a difference.
Cutting on plastic use, choosing plastic -free alternatives for daily products and supporting brands that use plastic -free packaging can all help to reduce the amount of plastic waste that you generate, while also an important message is sent to companies that prefer plastic -free alternatives.
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