From the story here:
Seafood eaters ingest up to 11,000 tiny pieces of plastic every year with dozens of particles becoming embedded in tissues, scientists have warned, in findings described as 'sobering' by the Prince of Wales. Researchers from the University of Ghent in Belgium believe that microplastics accumulate in the body over time and could be a long term health risk.
What a horrible development, all thanks to everything plastic finding its way into the oceans, from particles from washing your fleece clothing to plastic micro beads in personal care products and cleansers which pass into the seas.
Read a study about it here.
Everything that lives in the water worldwide appears to be in danger, especially shellfish which filter lots of seawater, but particles were found in a majority of species from the Adriatic to the North Pacific to China to Brazil:
Data analysing fish caught in the wild and sold for human consumption at markets found the following: “In Indonesia, anthropogenic debris was found in 28% of individual fish and in 55% of all species. Similarly, in the USA, anthropogenic debris was found in 25% of individual fish and in 67% of all species. Anthropogenic debris was also found in 33% of individual shellfish sampled. All of the anthropogenic debris recovered from fish in Indonesia was plastic, whereas anthropogenic debris recovered from fish in the USA was primarily fibers”.
