Microplastics Are Already Entering Human Food Supplies Such as Fish and Seafood, Australian Researchers Warn

This implies that microplastics are now making their way into human food supplies, including wild-caught and ocean-farmed fish and seafood sourced from South Australia's once-pristine Southern Ocean and gulf waters, according to researchers at Flinders University in Australia.

Microplastics are any type of plastic that is less than 5 mm long. From the summit of Mount Everest to the deepest oceans, it has become the most pressing environmental and health issue.

"Our findings shed light on the urgent need to prevent microplastic pollution by working with communities, industries and the government to protect these fragile marine systems," said Professor Karen Burke da Silva, Dean of the College of Science and Engineering at Flinders University.

The team sampled varying levels of microplastics on 10 popular South Australian beaches, including Coffin Bay and Port Lincoln on the West Coast, Point Lowly and Whyalla on the Spencer Gulf, various popular Adelaide metropolitan beaches, and beaches lining Victor Harbor, Robe, and Kangaroo Island, according to the paper published in Science of the Total Environment.

Low to medium levels of microplastics measured in the common blue mussel (Mytilus spp.) — a filter feeder affected by ecosystem conditions — were measured to analyse the main kinds of pollution affecting the environment, and single-use plastics were discovered to be the main offender. Microplastics are ubiquitous in the marine environment and tend to be more abundant in mussel samples near large towns and cities, the team found.

Trillions of microplastic particles exist in the world's oceans, with the highest concentrations recently found in the shallow seafloor sediment off Naifaru in the Maldives (at 278 particles per kg) and the lowest reported in the surface waters of the Antarctic Southern Ocean.

The team discovered that microplastic concentrations in South Australian intertidal water were low to moderate in comparison to global levels, and that microplastic abundance in mussels was within the range also reported globally.

Recently, scientists at the University of Hull and Hull York Medical School in the United Kingdom discovered microplastics in live human lungs for the first time, indicating that we are inhaling dangerous substances without realising it. This has the potential to have a significant impact on our respiratory health.

Microplastics have also been found in detectable levels in cosmetic products and the human bloodstream.

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The above article has been published from a wire source with minimal modifications to the headline and text.