Microplastics 'pose toxic threat to marine biodiversity'

Antonia Bornemann

10/12/2013

Current Event #2

By Mark Kinver

Environment reporter, BBC News

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25186871

According to a recently conducted study, little particles of plastic stemming from waste may have a negative impact on the biodiversity of species from the water. “Micro plastics” are possibly transferring toxic pollutants and other chemicals into the intestines of lugworms (Arenicola marina)  which then reduce their functions. Lugworms are famous for their ability to eat on organic matter from the sediment reducing the build-up. The pollutants released cause thermal stress and minimize the ability to consume as much sediment as before. Every year, 150 million tons, an estimation from the researchers, of waste is just disappearing from the global waste stream (findings can be found in the academic journal Current Biology). "We are losing a large volume of plastic and we know it is going into the environment and the assumption being made by policymakers is that this material is non-hazardous, it has got the same ranking as scraps of food," explained co-author Mark Browne, an ecologist from the US-based National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis. However, the research conducted really challenges this statement. Results prove that the plastic itself can affect species and create a problem in the ecosystem. But not only the plastic is life threatening for the lugworms, the plastic brings huge numbers of pollutants with it that are banned, which then also affect the rest of the ecosystem. "If the animals are not able to eat as much then there is a change in the function of the organisms and there is an impact on the semblance of the species found in an area," Dr. Browne said. According to the researcher, this was the first study showing the risk that is created by exposing marine species to micro plastics. “For about 40 or 50 years, we have been finding very large concentrations of chemicals in animals. Then they started to find animals with larger concentrations of pollutants and plastics, so researchers began to establish this correlation.”
I personally think this is super important to know. The pollution might “only” affect lugworms at the moment, but as the researcher said, this will have a bigger impact on other species since lugworms are eaten by bigger organisms. This allows the pollutant to be passed on in the food web or food chain infecting other marine species with the pollutant. I can’t believe that they have found pollutants in species for over 40 years only recently made this connection.