Commercially important seafood species are at greater risk of microplastic contamination depending how they clump together in the marine environment, new research suggests.
In the first study of its kind, scientists from the University of Plymouth used a series of experiments to assess whether the reefs formed by blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) affected their exposure and consumption of tiny microplastic particles.
They found that when mussels were clumped together forming reefs, as they do in nature, the reef structure slowed the sea water flowing over them, increased turbulence, and resulted in a three-fold rise in the amount of ingested plastic.
Writing in Environmental Research Letters, researchers say the study suggests that the arrangement and surface roughness (complexity) of natural reef structures – such as that constructed by mussel populations – create conditions that make them natural sinks for plastics and other forms of human pollution.
Read more at University Of Plymouth