Why does it matter if fish are eating them?
As it turns out, these tiny fibers can pose physical hazards as they get ingested and lodged in the gut. As Dr. Chelsea Rochman who specializes in microplastic pollution research explains ,this debris brings chemical contaminants that can potentially harm fish, among them endocrine disruptors, neurotoxins and potential carcinogens.
The plastics–whether fragments of larger plastics, microbeads or the fibers –are made of chemicals that, at any size, may pose health hazards to aquatic organisms and humans alike.
These microplastics also “act as a sponge” and can “transfer a cocktail of chemicals” to fish and other aquatic species, says Rochman. This means that these fibers and other plastic debris are also delivering chemical contaminants into our food web. In their research off the California coast, Rochman and her colleagues have found metals (including lead and cadmium, known neurotoxins) and flame retardants—polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs)—that have been used widely in both hard plastics and upholstery foams and are known to be persistent pollutants. They have also found polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), compounds associated with fossil fuels and a variety of adverse health effects, and PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls).
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