Microplastics Poses Bigger Threat to Marine Life than Assumed

Many investigations conducted over the years have shown that tiny pieces of plastics that end up on the sea shores poses a grave threat to marine wildlife. Interestingly enough, researchers believe that these small bits are way more dangerous than ever imagined.

According to the journal, “Environmental Science and Technology,” experts in the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom, along with other researchers, explain that microplastics affect marine dwellers in more than many ways. With the evidences found, scientists believe that little plastic fragments could enter the body of one or more animals while they are enjoying one of their meals. Apart from the mouths, microplastics can also enter through the gills, or any other respiratory organs that extract oxygen from water and release carbon dioxide, as the University of Exeter researchers explain. Those that entered the gills take much longer to be expelled since they linger in an animal for a considerable periods and tend to cause more damage.

More precisely, they have high chances to impair the animal's ability to extract oxygen from the water. These respiratory issues can, be it only once in a while, lead to serious medical complications, maybe even death, specialists explain in the journal Environmental Science and Technology.

Moreover, microplastic fragments could also work their way up the food chain, and even reach humans who like to eat fish or seafood. The result can be very dangerous to the human health especially that most type of plastics contain toxic chemicals that are not easily broken down.

It is estimated that human society currently uses about 288 million tonnes of plastic annually. Of the plastic material that gets thrown away, approximately 10% do not reach the landfills and ends up in seas and oceans instead. Here, it gets broken down and turns into small particles that scientists call microplastics.