Microplastic pollution in seawater and marine organisms across the Tropical Eastern Pacific and Galápagos

Abstract It is not surprising anymore the detection of plastic debris degrading into micro and nanoplastics across all oceanic environments and in marine organisms, which now appears as one of the world’s main concerns. To determine the levels of microplastic pollution at sea, water samples were collected across a 4000 km-trajectory in the Tropical Eastern Pacific and the Galápagos archipelago, covering an area of 453,000 square kilometres. Furthermore, 240 specimens of 16 different species of fish, squid, and shrimp, all of human consumption, were collected along the continental coast. Microplastic particles were found in 100% of the water samples and marine organisms. Microplastic particles from 150 – 500 µm were the most predominant. This is one of the first reports simultaneously detecting and quantifying microplastic particles abundance in the Eastern Tropical Pacific region, the Galápagos archipelago and inside marine organisms.