Il krill, ovvero la popolazione di minuscoli crostacei relegati al fondo della catena alimentare, potrebbe rappresentare una soluzione contro l’allarmante inquinamento di plastica nelle acque marine.
Secondo uno studio australiano pubblicato in Nature Communications, questi animali ingeriscono la microplastica e la scompongono in nanoplastica più piccola del 70-90%, che viene poi espulsa nelle feci. "La scoperta è stata sorprendente", scrive la responsabile dello studio, Amanda Dawson, della Griffith University.
Nell'Oceano Meridionale vivono fino a 500 milioni di tonnellate di krill e ogni creatura assume 86 litri di acqua al giorno, per un totale di miliardi di tonnellate di acqua marina antartica filtrata quotidianamente.
Dawson avverte tuttavia che il fenomeno potrebbe essere un'arma a doppio taglio: il materiale espulso diventa disponibile a organismi che normalmente non riuscirebbero a ingerire le particelle più grandi.
ANSA/Bleff
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