Microplastic in living organisms at the bottom of the oceans

Korean scientists have detected microplastics in 92 percent of organisms living in the hydrothermal chimney area at a depth exceeding 2,000 metres. Snails and clams taken from the bottom of the Indian Ocean and the southwest part of the Pacific were examined.

Microplastic was found in almost all test organisms

The study was conducted by scientists from Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB) and Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST). They analyzed snails and clams taken from the ocean floor in areas of hydrothermal chimneys, located at a depth of over 2,000 metres.

Microplastic was detected in 92 percent of the test organisms. On average, there were 3.42 particles in each of them. plastics.

Results show that microplastic pollution also includes deep-sea ecosystems, so far considered relatively isolated from direct human activity.

Plastics also present in the depths

The most commonly detected material was polystyrene, widely used, among others, for the manufacture of packaging and disposable products. Its presence in deep-sea organisms indicates that plastic particles move from the surface of the ocean to its deepest layers.

This means that plastic pollution is not limited to coastal waters or oceans and seas. Microplastic it also penetrates ecosystems outside the reach of sunlight.

Method of food intake and effect on microplastic collection

Researchers have also found that the place of accumulation of microplastic in the body depends on the method of feeding.

In snails feeding on microorganisms found on the seabed, particles of plastics were found primarily in the digestive tract. However, in bivalve molluscs filtering water, microplastics were distributed more evenly in the tissues of the entire body.

According to scientists, these results show that the way of nutrition affects both the path of microplastic entry into the body and the location of its subsequent collection.

More microplastics in Indian Ocean samples

Scientists also compared the samples taken from two reservoirs. Indian Ocean organisms included as much as 14.7 times more microplastic than Southwest organisms. Pacific.

The authors of the study assume that the difference may result from the scale of human activities in the Indian Ocean region, as well as from the course of sea currents that carry pollution to significant distances.

Data useful for monitoring the marine environment

The study confirms that plastic pollution also includes ecosystems associated with deep-water hydrothermal chimneys. Microplastic is thus present not only on the surface of oceans and coastal waters, but also in organisms living thousands of metres below sea level.

According to researchers, the data obtained can be used to monitor the state marine environment and in assessing the magnitude of microplastics in the seas and oceans of our globe.