An alarming article has been published by The Independent, which reveals how poisonous chemicals disposed in the sea is contaminating the fish we consume.
The article, written by Independent Science Correspondent, Ian Johnson, highlights how the pollutants in the contaminated fish were found to hinder a pump within the body which “acts as a ‘boucer’ to kick out potentially harmful toxins”.
P-glycoprotein is an important protein of the cell membrane that pumps many foreign substances out of cells and protects our reproductive organs. Johnson emphasised that consuming the contaminated fish is potentially reducing the effectiveness of our critical defence system.
What was even more alarming was the notion that “newborn babies are particularly at risk as they are exposed to high concentrations of the pollutants in breast milk and their defence mechanism is not yet fully developed.”
Professor Hamdoun, Associate Professor at Scripps stated, “We, all animals, have P-gp in our intestines to keep harmful things in food out. However, babies in the first six months of life have relatively low levels of P-gp in the intestine.”