Trophic transfer of microplastics and mixed contaminants in the marine food web and implications for human health

Published on by in Science

Maddison Carbery, Wayne O'Connor and Palanisami Thavamani. Trophic transfer of microplastics and mixed contaminants in the marine food web and implications for human health. Environment International, vol 115, p 400-409 (2018).

Full version of this paper is available here: https://marxiv.org/x2jft/

Abstract:

Plastic litter has become one of the most serious threats to the marine environment. Over 690
marine species have been impacted by plastic debris with small plastic particles being observed
in the digestive tract of organisms from different trophic levels. The physical and chemical
properties of microplastics facilitate the sorption of contaminants to the particle surface,
serving as a vector of contaminants to organisms following ingestion. Bioaccumulation factors
for higher trophic organisms and impacts on wider marine food webs remain unknown. The
main objectives of this review were to discuss the factors influencing microplastic ingestion;
describe the biological impacts of associated chemical contaminants; highlight evidence for the
trophic transfer of microplastics and contaminants within marine food webs and outline the
future research priorities to address potential human health concerns. Controlled laboratory
studies looking at the effects of microplastics and contaminants on model organisms employ
nominal concentrations and consequently have little relevance to the real environment. Few
studies have attempted to track the fate of microplastics and mixed contaminants through a
complex marine food web using environmentally relevant concentrations to identify the real
level of risk. To our knowledge, there has been no attempt to understand the transfer of
microplastics and associated contaminants from seafood to humans and the implications for
human health. Research is needed to determine bioaccumulation factors for popular seafood
items in order to identify the potential impacts on human health.
 

Keywords:

Microplastics, Trophic transfer, Food chain, Human health, contaminants, seafood

 

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