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Vancouver Aquarium Research Reveals Microplastics Entering Ocean Food Web Through Zooplankton…
http://www.vanaqua.org/media/media-releases/2015/vancouver-aquarium-research-reveals-microplastics-entering-ocean-food-web-through-zooplankton-posing-risk-to-salmon[font face=Serif]For Immediate Release: June 29, 2015
[font size=5]Vancouver Aquarium Research Reveals Microplastics Entering Ocean Food Web Through Zooplankton, Posing Risk To Salmon[/font]
[font size=3]Vancouver, B.C. – Tiny microscopic animals called zooplankton are ingesting plastic particles at an alarming rate, according to a new study by Dr. Peter Ross, head of the Ocean Pollution Research Program at Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre. That could spell trouble for the entire aquatic food web.
In a scientific paper released June 12 in the international journal Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, Dr. Ross and his co-authors, Jean-Pierre Desforges and Moira Galbraith, report on microplastic particles found in two key species of zooplankton found in the Northeast Pacific Ocean: copepods and euphausiids. The findings show plastic in one out of every 34 copepods, and in one in every 17 euphausiids. It’s the first indisputable evidence that species at the bottom of the food web are mistaking plastic for food, which raises troubling questions about species that rely on these invertebrates for food, such as B.C. salmon.
“Zooplankton represent a critical energy source in the world’s oceans and a vital food for many fish and marine mammal species. Most salmon species feed heavily on copepods and euphausiids during their juvenile and adult life stages. The potential transfer of microplastics in the food web, from zooplankton to Pacific salmon that ingest them, would be a great concern given the importance of salmon in our regional ecosystems,” said Dr. Ross. “These particles could pose a serious risk of physical harm to the marine animals that consume them, potentially blocking their gut or leaching chemicals into their bodies.”
Microplastics refer to barely visible litter in the form of small fragments, fibres and granules. They may be deliberately manufactured, as is the case with microbeads in exfoliants or toothpastes, or may result from the breakdown of larger pieces of plastic or textiles. The microplastics found in the zooplankton in this study consisted of small fragments and fibers, but not the deliberately designed microbeads that may sink to the sediments in the ocean.
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[font size=5]Vancouver Aquarium Research Reveals Microplastics Entering Ocean Food Web Through Zooplankton, Posing Risk To Salmon[/font]
[font size=3]Vancouver, B.C. – Tiny microscopic animals called zooplankton are ingesting plastic particles at an alarming rate, according to a new study by Dr. Peter Ross, head of the Ocean Pollution Research Program at Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre. That could spell trouble for the entire aquatic food web.
In a scientific paper released June 12 in the international journal Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, Dr. Ross and his co-authors, Jean-Pierre Desforges and Moira Galbraith, report on microplastic particles found in two key species of zooplankton found in the Northeast Pacific Ocean: copepods and euphausiids. The findings show plastic in one out of every 34 copepods, and in one in every 17 euphausiids. It’s the first indisputable evidence that species at the bottom of the food web are mistaking plastic for food, which raises troubling questions about species that rely on these invertebrates for food, such as B.C. salmon.
“Zooplankton represent a critical energy source in the world’s oceans and a vital food for many fish and marine mammal species. Most salmon species feed heavily on copepods and euphausiids during their juvenile and adult life stages. The potential transfer of microplastics in the food web, from zooplankton to Pacific salmon that ingest them, would be a great concern given the importance of salmon in our regional ecosystems,” said Dr. Ross. “These particles could pose a serious risk of physical harm to the marine animals that consume them, potentially blocking their gut or leaching chemicals into their bodies.”
Microplastics refer to barely visible litter in the form of small fragments, fibres and granules. They may be deliberately manufactured, as is the case with microbeads in exfoliants or toothpastes, or may result from the breakdown of larger pieces of plastic or textiles. The microplastics found in the zooplankton in this study consisted of small fragments and fibers, but not the deliberately designed microbeads that may sink to the sediments in the ocean.
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