Microplastic particles threaten fish larvae

Researchers have found that larval fish exposed to microplastic particles during development displayed changed behaviors and stunted growth which lead to greatly increased mortality rates. The researchers discovered that larval perch that had access to microplastic particles only ate plastic and ignored their natural food source of free-swimming zooplankton. Microplastic particles (defined as plastic particles <5mm in size) originate from large plastic waste products that fragment into smaller pieces, or from manufactured plastics of microscopic size (e.g., microbeads in personal care products). An article about the research is published in Science (News Item Uppsala University, 2 June 2016).
Click here for the news item.
Click here for an abstract of the published article.

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