The world started paying attention to the problem of plastic trash in the ocean when seabirds turned up with plastic rings from six-packs of beer twisted about their necks. Now researchers say tiny bits of degraded plastic are showing up in fish and shellfish at the grocery store, says CBC News.
The eventual effect on humans is not known. The microplastics come from many sources and some winds up in the tissues of marine animals. Chelsea Rochman, an assistant professor at the University of Toronto and co-author of a report prepared for the International Maritime Organization, told the CBC: “It has infiltrated every level of the food chain in marine environments and likely fresh water, and so now we’re seeing it come back to us on our dinner plates.”
A point of concern for researchers is the contaminants, such as pesticides, that might hitchhike on the tiny bits of plastic. A dietician says microplastics deserve more research, “but we don’t want people running away from eating healthy sources of food.”