Entry of the Microplastics in Food Chain and Food Web

Summary

This chapter documented the multiple routes by which microplastics enter the food chain — including ingestion by marine invertebrates, fish, and livestock, as well as contamination of crops via irrigation and soil amendments — and traced their biomagnification potential up the food web to human consumers. Because humans sit at the top of multiple food chains simultaneously, this multi-pathway exposure makes dietary microplastic intake a significant and difficult-to-avoid health concern.