Mussels can eat microplastics and excrete them with their faeces. Mussel poop is easier to clean up and this is beneficial for the concentration of microplastics in the ocean.
Trillions of tiny plastic particles, also known as microplastics, float in the ocean. They end up in the fish and cause massive declines in fish populations. Because microplastics are so small, they are difficult to remove from water. But scientists may have found a way around that.
In addition to their normal diet, blue mussels also eat microplastics and other dirty particles. They also defecate mussels. When the plastic particles mix with the faeces, they are much easier to remove from the water. Mussel poop sinks to the bottom.
“The mussels, as it were, carry the waste outside so that we can pick it up,” the researchers write.
safe to eat
During the study, mussels were placed in a steel tank. Water mixed with microplastics was pumped. In the end, the marine animals ate two-thirds of the plastic particles that ended up in their droppings.
The mussels in the study filtered out more than 40,000 microplastics a day. According to the researchers, the animals could remove about 250,000 particles per hour in case of high concentrations of plastic in the water.
To filter the water 24 hours a day, about two million mussels are needed in a bay. According to the researchers, the use of mussels cannot therefore be the only solution to filter microplastics from seawater, but “it can certainly contribute to the reduction of microplastics.”
Because mussels simply expel microplastics, they retain very few particles in their tissues. This keeps them safe to eat.
A good way to remove mussel droppings from the water is currently being investigated. The microplastic feces from so many mussels should not be left lying around for too long, as they are harmful to the seabed.
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