MICROPLASTICS: TROUBLE IN THE FOOD CHAIN


Microplastics: Trouble in the Food Chain


Plastics in the environment


As the world’s demand for plastic materials continues to grow, management of plastic waste will remain a global challenge. In 2014, global plastic production exceeded 311 million metric tons, a 4.0 per cent increase over 2013.1


In 2010, out of 2.5


billion metric tons of solid waste generated by 192 countries, about 275 million tons consisted of plastic. It has been estimated that between 4.8 and 12.7 million tons ended up in the ocean as a result of inadequate solid waste management.2


Concern about visible plastic debris is increasing, while recent research reports the growing presence and abundance of microplastics in marine environments.3-6


These small plastic pieces, between the size of a virus and an ant, now can 32


Photo Credit: Crystal51/ Shutterstock.com


be found worldwide: in the water of lakes and seas, in the sediments of rivers and deltas, and in the stomachs of various organisms ranging from zooplankton to whales. Microplastics have been detected in environments as remote as a Mongolian mountain lake and deep sea sediments deposited five kilometres below sea level.7-9


One study estimated that,


on average, every square kilometre of the world’s oceans has 63,320 microplastic particles floating at the surface, with significant regional variations–for example, concentrations in East Asian seas are 27 times higher.10,11


Marine organisms–


including zooplankton, invertebrates, fishes, seabirds and whales–can be exposed to microplastics through direct ingestion of water and indirectly as predators in food webs.

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