Unfortunately, the human capacity to pollute the planet knows no limits: not even its most hidden corners are safe. A team of scientists led by Alan Jamieson, from the University of Newcastle (England), has found the first signs of pollution in the Marianas and Kermadec trenches , both located in the Pacific Ocean and more than 10,000 meters deep .
There live, for example, small crustaceans of the order of the Amphipoda , which feed on everything that is put within range on the seabed. This voracity makes them a perfect object of study to know if in ecosystems so far from the earth’s surface there are already harmful substances produced by man. And indeed, as detailed by experts in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution , the adipose tissue of abyssal crustaceans contains traces of two known synthetic compounds : polychlorinated biphenyls ( PCBs ) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers ( PBDEs ), used as electrical insulators. and flame retardants. In addition, the quantities found are not insignificant: they can be compared to those recorded in the Japanese Bay of Suruga, one of the most polluted industrial areas in the Pacific Northwest.
Both PCBs and PBDEs are grouped into the category of Persistent Organic Compounds ( POPs ), very toxic because they hardly degrade over time . PCBs, for example, were banned almost everywhere in the world starting in the late 1970s, but they reached the bottom of pits and are still present in the food chain of the animals that inhabit them .
Photo: specimen of Hirondellea gigas, a crustacean of the order Amphipoda. Credit: Alan Jamieson.
