Re:How an Army of Ocean Farmers Are Starting an Economic Rev...
by bradleyjg on Monday April 04, 2016 @11:23AM
(#11422575)
It depends on whether or not they bioaccumulate^W -- checking wikipedia apparently the word I want is biomagnification.
The basic idea is that as you move up the food chain the concentration of toxins gets higher. So a plant might have a relatively low level of toxin absorbed even if it was directly applied, but a shellfish that consumed algae that were exposed to the toxin downstream from the farm might have a considerably higher level.
I don't know a whole lot about the details in this specific case, but that's my concern.
The basic idea is that as you move up the food chain the concentration of toxins gets higher. So a plant might have a relatively low level of toxin absorbed even if it was directly applied, but a shellfish that consumed algae that were exposed to the toxin downstream from the farm might have a considerably higher level.
I don't know a whole lot about the details in this specific case, but that's my concern.