Marine microplastics spell big problems for future generations

Microplastics in Taihu Lake, China

“…The Asian clam is one of the most popular freshwater shellfish and one of the most commonly cultured species in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River as well as in Taihu Lake. Accumulating evidence has suggested that microplastics can bring adverse effects on energy metabolism, immunity and even reproduction of organisms (Wright et al, 2013;Sussarellu et al, 2016;Galloway and Lewis, 2016). Microplastics can also be retained through the food chain and enter human bodies through diverse pathways (Farrell and Nelson, 2013;Seltenrich, 2015;Yang et al, 2015).…”

Commentary: Tissue accumulation of microplastics in mice and biomarker responses suggest widespread health risks of exposure

“…In Deng et al's experimental setups, the lowest dose administered at 0.01 mg/day corresponded to ∼10 5 of the 5 µm particles, a number that is likely 3-4 magnitudes above ecological abundance. Even the consumption of oysters which rather high accumulation of microplastics (Galloway and Lewis, 2016) would hardly approach the amounts used in the experiments. How do microplastics elicit the adverse effects seen in mouse liver and the zebrafish liver in the earlier report (Lu et al, 2016)?…”

Microplastic Identification via Holographic Imaging and Machine Learning

“…The largest percentage of marine litter consists of plastic wastes, the biodegradation process of which can take decades to complete . The main concerns about the negative effects of plastics in a marine environment are related to the severe impact that such small particles have on wildlife and finally on humans.…”

“…Wastewater treatment plants are an important hub of MP pollutants as well, and their direct release to the environment needs to be continuously monitored . However, reliable identification of MPs in water is still a challenging ambition and thus highly demanded to map and understand their impact on human health as well as marine economic activities . There are major concerns that ingestion of MPs by marine organisms could lead to toxicological harm .…”