Plastic microfibre ingestion by deep-sea organisms
Plastic waste is a distinctive indicator of the world-wide impact of anthropogenic activities. Both macro- and micro-plastics are found in the ocean, but as yet little is known about their ultimate fate and their impact on marine ecosystems. In this study we present the first evidence that microplas...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
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Nature Publishing Group
2016
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| _version_ | 1797094047014191104 |
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| author | Taylor, M Gwinnett, C Robinson, L Woodall, L |
| author_facet | Taylor, M Gwinnett, C Robinson, L Woodall, L |
| author_sort | Taylor, M |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Plastic waste is a distinctive indicator of the world-wide impact of anthropogenic activities. Both macro- and micro-plastics are found in the ocean, but as yet little is known about their ultimate fate and their impact on marine ecosystems. In this study we present the first evidence that microplastics are already becoming integrated into deep-water organisms. By examining organisms that live on the deep-sea floor we show that plastic microfibres are ingested and internalised by members of at least three major phyla with different feeding mechanisms. These results demonstrate that, despite its remote location, the deep sea and its fragile habitats are already being exposed to human waste to the extent that diverse organisms are ingesting microplastics. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T04:08:42Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:c7158b33-3edc-44bf-8719-ef6480c31c1b |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T04:08:42Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | Nature Publishing Group |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:c7158b33-3edc-44bf-8719-ef6480c31c1b2022-03-27T06:42:30ZPlastic microfibre ingestion by deep-sea organismsJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:c7158b33-3edc-44bf-8719-ef6480c31c1bSymplectic Elements at OxfordNature Publishing Group2016Taylor, MGwinnett, CRobinson, LWoodall, LPlastic waste is a distinctive indicator of the world-wide impact of anthropogenic activities. Both macro- and micro-plastics are found in the ocean, but as yet little is known about their ultimate fate and their impact on marine ecosystems. In this study we present the first evidence that microplastics are already becoming integrated into deep-water organisms. By examining organisms that live on the deep-sea floor we show that plastic microfibres are ingested and internalised by members of at least three major phyla with different feeding mechanisms. These results demonstrate that, despite its remote location, the deep sea and its fragile habitats are already being exposed to human waste to the extent that diverse organisms are ingesting microplastics. |
| spellingShingle | Taylor, M Gwinnett, C Robinson, L Woodall, L Plastic microfibre ingestion by deep-sea organisms |
| title | Plastic microfibre ingestion by deep-sea organisms |
| title_full | Plastic microfibre ingestion by deep-sea organisms |
| title_fullStr | Plastic microfibre ingestion by deep-sea organisms |
| title_full_unstemmed | Plastic microfibre ingestion by deep-sea organisms |
| title_short | Plastic microfibre ingestion by deep-sea organisms |
| title_sort | plastic microfibre ingestion by deep sea organisms |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT taylorm plasticmicrofibreingestionbydeepseaorganisms AT gwinnettc plasticmicrofibreingestionbydeepseaorganisms AT robinsonl plasticmicrofibreingestionbydeepseaorganisms AT woodalll plasticmicrofibreingestionbydeepseaorganisms |