Microplastics in Seafood: How Much Are People Eating?

With discarded plastics making up more than 80% of the trash that accumulates in some locations, 1 microplastics (MPs) have become ubiquitous in the environment. Generally defined as synthetic polymers less than 5 mm in diameter, 2 MPs have been found in fish, shellfish, crustaceans, mollusks, and even mammals. In a systematic review and meta-analysis recently reported in Environmental Health Perspectives, investigators estimated the level of MP contamination in seafood and, consequently, how much people may ingest each year. t is not clear whether MP consumption harms human health, although particles may carry potential hazardous plastic constituents, microorganisms, and adsorbed chemicals. "In order to assess whether the uptake of microplastics via food can indeed pose a risk to our health, first we need to quantify this exposure, and, second, determine whether this exposure is high enough to have a detrimental effect," says lead study author Evangelos Danopoulos, a doctoral student at Hull York Medical School in England. "Systematic reviews and meta-analyses can play a key function in the risk assessment process."