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Microplastics in the Food Chain
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This review documents microplastic presence throughout the food trophic chain, examining how plastics enter food webs, accumulate with biomagnification, and affect organisms at each trophic level including humans who are at the top of the chain.
The presence of microplastics in the whole trophic network including humans has been documented by a plethora of studies. When microplastics are introduced into the trophic structure, the routine functions of the biotic systems play a role as vectors of contaminants. At each higher level of the trophic structure, the toxic levels are biomagnified. After ingestion, depending on the size, shape, and type of the material, the microplastics may stay in the digestive tracts or be absorbed by the intestinal epithelium and/or distributed through the circulatory system or excreted. When introduced into different tissues, it may trigger a chain of physiological and behavioral responses including physical damage and a reaction to the toxic chemicals of the microplastics and the chemicals adsorbed onto them. Multimodal accumulation of microplastics in humans from air and consumption of contaminated food, bottled water, beverages, and commercial salts are recorded. Studies have also documented that microplastics with a size of ≤20 μm are capable of penetrating into all the organs, cross cell membranes, the blood-brain barrier, and the placenta!
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This review synthesizes current knowledge on microplastic pollution, examining the mechanisms by which microplastics affect organisms at multiple levels of biological organization and how plastic particles transfer through trophic chains, accumulating and potentially magnifying in concentration up the food web. Researchers highlight evidence for physical, chemical, and microbial impacts on organisms ranging from invertebrates to mammals, including humans, and identify priority areas for future ecotoxicological research.
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This review summarizes evidence for microplastic entry and accumulation throughout the food chain, from environmental sources through plant uptake, invertebrate ingestion, fish accumulation, and ultimately human consumption. The authors highlight the food chain as a critical pathway connecting environmental plastic pollution to direct human exposure.
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This review examines the contamination of the marine food web by microplastics, tracing the pathways by which plastic particles enter and move through trophic levels from primary producers to top consumers including marine mammals and humans, and summarizing evidence for toxicological effects and human exposure through seafood consumption.
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This review examines how microplastics move through the ocean food chain, from tiny zooplankton at the base up through fish to humans, and what health effects may result. Trophic transfer means microplastics can concentrate as they move up the food web, increasing human dietary exposure.
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This review examines how microplastics move through the food chain, from water and soil into plants and animals, and ultimately into human food. Microplastics become more dangerous when they absorb toxic chemicals from the environment, and they accumulate in organisms because they take longer to pass through the body than to be consumed. The review highlights that microplastic bioaccumulation through the food web is a direct pathway for human exposure.
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.