These “anthropogenic particles”—materials created or altered by humans—were discovered in the edible tissues of six common species: black rockfish, lingcod, Chinook salmon, Pacific herring, Pacific lamprey, and pink shrimp.
Microplastics were found in 180 of the 182 seafood samples tested. Pink shrimp had the highest concentration, and Chinook salmon had the lowest. According to Elise Granek, a microplastics researcher and study co-author, “We found that the smaller organisms that we sampled seem to be ingesting more anthropogenic, non-nutritious particles.”
This is not an isolated finding.
A comprehensive research conducted by the charity Ocean Conservancy revealed that about 88% of protein samples, including meat and fish, included microplastic particles. According to the study, the maximum U.S. adult exposure to these proteins is approximately 3.8 million microplastics per year.
