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LONDON, Jan. 20 (AP) — British scientists said Friday they don’t think pollution has killed the thousands of crabs washing up on beaches in northeastern England, though they’re not sure what caused the unusual death.
In late 2021, the crustaceans were found dead or dying along more than 70 kilometers (44 miles) of coastline, some showing unusual “convulsions” in the throes of death.
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Environmentalists suspect toxins released by dredging to expand the port at Teesside, a heavy industrial area, may be to blame. Academic research supported by the fishing industry last year suggested that the industrial pollutant pyridine may be the underlying cause of the dredging of the Tees estuary.
But a panel of scientists and industry experts set up by the UK government said it had found no evidence that pollutants were to blame.
The panel, chaired by the government’s chief scientific adviser for the environment, Gideon Henderson, said it was “unlikely” that pyridine or other toxic pollutants had caused the deaths.
“We just couldn’t find evidence of high concentrations of pyridine in coastal seawater,” said Crispin Halsall, an environmental chemist at Lancaster University who was involved in the report.
The team concluded that a new pathogen – an underlying disease or parasite – in UK waters was “likely” responsible for the crabs’ deaths. The scientists said they were unable to determine what pathogen, if any, was responsible.
“We’ve probably raised more questions than answers,” said Tammy Horton, a researcher at the UK’s National Oceanography Centre, who worked on the study.
She said it was “highly unlikely” that the crab’s pathogen had any impact on human health and that “seafood is safe to eat”. (Associated Press)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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