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Written by: Golden Chess
2020-11-02 00:00
Last update date: 2020-11-02 00:00
The western waters of Hong Kong is one of the horseshoe crab habitats of important ecological value in the world, and Chinese horseshoe crabs, which are rated as "endangered" species, can be found.
However, the area is also facing serious plastic pollution problems. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University found that young horseshoe crabs living in an environment with microplastics will slow down their movements, and their weight and head-chest width are lower than normal.
If young horseshoe crabs live in an environment containing PET plastic commonly used in plastic bottles, the survival rate is only 30%.
The team members participating in the study called for the government to reduce the production of plastic waste from the source and has established an effective recycling system to prevent plastic waste from falling into rivers or oceans.
Horseshoe crabs known as "living fossils" are scientifically named horseshoe crabs. The species currently found in Hong Kong are horseshoe crabs and Chinese horseshoe crabs, and Chinese horseshoe crabs are also rated as "endangered" species.
Fang Jiaxi, assistant professor of the Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, led a team to study the impact of microplastics on horseshoe crabs.
He pointed out that because some horseshoe crabs live in mudflats, and some of the microplastics are heavy and will "sink to the bottom" and stay in the mudflats, horseshoe crabs will directly face the threat of microplastic pollution.
The research team artificially cultivated the horseshoe crabs needed for the experiment, placed them in sand and rock mixed with microplastics, and lived for about 100 days.
In the experiment, horseshoe crabs were divided into four groups living in different environments, including a control group without mixed microplastics, a living environment mixed with a PET glue sample group commonly used to make plastic bottles, and a sample group with sand and gravel mixed with industrial plastic PMMA. And the sample group mixed with nylon, each group has about 10 horseshoe crabs.
Experiments have found that horseshoe crabs grow in an environment containing microplastics, and their body weight and head-to-chest width show negative growth.
Among the sample groups with PET glue in the living environment, the mortality rate of young horseshoe crabs reached 70%, the highest among the four groups.
The mortality rate is far more than 20% of the control group, and about 30% of the living environment mixed with nylon sample group.
Horseshoe crabs living in the PET glue sample group were also relatively inactive.
Fang Jiaxi described that horseshoe crabs that grew up in an environment containing microplastics were "a lot of them sluggish and slow, and one died in 10 days." For example, wild horseshoe crabs have similar conditions, which may make them more likely to be affected. Hunting.
He believes that the cause of the above situation is that after horseshoe crabs eat microplastics, the intestines are blocked, which affects the ability to eat, makes horseshoe crabs insufficient energy activity, and ultimately increases mortality.
Fang explained that PET glue has the greatest impact, or because its chemical structure contains "benzene", horseshoe crabs release toxic substances in their bodies after eating.
The research project was funded by the Marine Ecological Improvement Fund established by the Airport Authority, and a total of about 880,000 yuan was approved.
(Photo by Golden Chess)
In addition, the study will also go to other locations in the western waters of Hong Kong, such as Baini, Lantau Tongtou, Shuikou, Er'ao and Shenqu to collect sediment samples, and then extract microplastics from the samples to observe the amount of microplastics in different locations.
Experiments have found that the number of microplastics in the nozzle is the largest, on average 4 to 5 times more than other survey sites.
Zhang Zhaojian, an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry at City University who assisted in the research, believes that because the mouth has been a hot spot for tourists in recent years, "a lot of tourists may cause serious plastic pollution." In addition, the western waters are vulnerable to pollution from the Pearl River in the Mainland.
Zhang pointed out that five to six years ago, the number of wild horseshoe crabs in Hong Kong was counted. At that time, the number of young Chinese horseshoe crabs was about 4,000. However, the survival rate of wild horseshoe crabs is extremely low and it is difficult to know the current number of adult horseshoe crabs.
In addition, the blood can be made into a "limulus reagent" after extraction, which may affect the number of new pneumonia epidemics.
Zhang Zhaojian urged the government to reduce the production of plastic waste from the source, and has established an effective recycling system to prevent plastic waste from falling into rivers or oceans.
In addition, the authorities must also coordinate with the Mainland to reduce plastic pollution.
The research project was funded by the Marine Ecological Improvement Fund established by the Airport Authority, and a total of about 880,000 yuan was approved.
This fund and the Fisheries Promotion Fund are both independent funds required to be established in the conditions listed in the environmental permit for the airport's expansion of the third runway. It has been in operation for 4 years.
Since the establishment of the two funds in 2017, the AA has injected a total of 400 million yuan into the two funds.
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