Last year, Gizmodo ran a story reporting on evidence that microplastics – plastic fragments less than five millimeters size (roughly a quarter inch) – are moving through the marine food web to top predators.
Last year, Gizmodo ran a story reporting on evidence that microplastics – plastic fragments less than five millimeters size (roughly a quarter inch) – are moving through the marine food web to top predators. The study, published by researchers at the University of Exeter, showed that when mackerel consumed microplastics and were later fed to seals, the plastic bits could be detected in the seals’ fecal samples.
While the story reinforced a logical concept—that microplastics consumed by smaller marine animals may eventually end up in larger ones—it touched on the question of how harmful microplastics are to marine life and humans, if at all. One scientist, who was not involved in the study, commented, “There’s lots of work still needed before we understand microplastics’ potential harm to animals, how long those plastic bits stay in digestive tracts, and how they accumulate. There isn’t much convincing evidence of harm to humans yet.”
Read more at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Image Credit: Eric Taylor and Natalie Renier, WHOI Creative
