A UK scientist says it’s too early to tell whether the presence of nano plastics in scallops is a cause for concern.

A study by the University of Plymouth revealed that billions of the tiny particles, invisible to the human eye, can accumulate in the shellfish in just six hours, but are also quickly released.

Using a radioactive tracer, the researchers followed the plastic to see how it passed through the filter feeders’ digestive system.

Professor Richard Thompson, who led the study, said it was an attempt to ’scope the horizon’ of nano plastics in the marine environment.

He added that the research had no implications for the fishing industry at this stage.

The academic, who once worked at the Marine Biological Centre in Port Erin, said; ’One of the unknowns about plastic in the marine environment is the effect of really small pieces right down at the nano scale, way below the level you could see with the naked eye .

’We already know that large pieces of plastic can cause problems to marine life.’

He added that most scientists believed that there are pieces of plastic accumulating at the nano level.

This was one of the first pieces of research to examine that.

’We chose scallops simply because they are a large mollusc and it makes it easier to study them,’ he said.

’We used very small pieces of plastic and we included a low dose of radioactive tracer so we could follow the plastic.

’So we were able to show that they would take up nano plastic from sea water in the same way they would their food.

’It passed all the way round their circulatory system. It passed through most of the tissues of the body. Then also, interestingly, it was also released from the body.’

He said nobody knew how widespread nano particles were in the environment because they were too small to monitor.

But he added: ’There’s nothing in our research that would make me want to stop eating scallops. I’d be more concerned to ensure the were sustainably caught and there wasn’t damage to the sea bed in extracting them.’

The Department of Environment Food and Agriculture says Manx-caught scallops are not monitored for levels of nano-plastics, but the university’s study has been reviewed.

The DEFA said it was an area for research rather than monitoring and that the work was at too early a stage for checks to be done or advice given to consumers.

The department said it would ensure ’appropriate controls are implemented’ if needed, to protect local consumers and help the fishing industry meet its obligations.

The Manx sea fishing industry is worth at least £13 million a year to the economy.

Professor Thompson said the next step was to investigate whether the results in scallops are the same for other creatures, and then look at whether the particles are benign or harmful.