The group of Professor Hideshige Takada, Assistant Professor Kaoruko Mizukawa, Researcher Takuya Fukuoka, Professor Katsufumi Sato of the Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, Tokyo University, and Specially Appointed Researcher Chihiro Kinoshita of the Graduate School of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology is a non-woven mask used for new corona virus countermeasures. Spilled into the sea and confirmed that the sea turtle was feeding.
According to Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, the research group found a mask in the excrement of blue sea turtles caught in a set net on the coast of Iwate Prefecture in August 2021, and polypropylene analysis showed that this mask was a type of plastic. I found out that it was a non-woven mask containing it.
Ecological surveys of sea turtles have been underway in this area for over 15 years, but no masks have ever appeared.
Since there are concerns about the scientific effects of swallowing plastic, when we analyzed plastic additives for masks from 5 companies on the market, it was pointed out that the masks from 4 companies had endocrine disrupting effects, and UV362, which is considered to be an environmental hormone. 6 types were found, including.
Of these, one company had a relatively high concentration of 1 nanograms (nano is one billionth) in 362 gram of UV1.The research group believes that accidental ingestion of masks by marine organisms can have the effect of plastic additives.
Paper information:[Marine Pollution Bulletin] Covid-19-derived plastic debris contaminating marine ecosystem: Alert from a sea turtle
