Microplastics Found In 99% Of 182 Samples Of Five Species Of Fish And Pink Shrimp

Microplastics contamination is widespread in seafood sampled in a recent study, adding to growing evidence of the dangerous substances’ ubiquity in the nation’s food system, and a growing threat to human health. The peer-reviewed study detected microplastics in 99%, or 180 out of 182, samples of seafood either bought at the store or from a fishing boat in Oregon. The highest levels were found in shrimp.

Researchers also determined the most common type of microplastic were fibers from clothing or textiles, which represented over 80% of the substance they detected. The findings highlight a serious problem with plastic use at its current scale, said Elise Granek, a Portland State University microplastics researcher and study co-author. “As long as we’re using plastic as a major component in our daily lives and we’re using it in a widespread fashion, then we’re going to see them in our food, too,” Granek said.

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Microplastic pollution can contain any number of 16,000 plastic chemicals, and often is attached to highly toxic compounds – like PFAS, bisphenol and phthalates – linked to cancer, neurotoxicity, hormone disruption or developmental toxicity. The substance can cross the brain and placental barriers, and those who have it in their heart tissue are twice as likely to have a heart attack or stroke during the next several years.

The study sampled five types of fin fish and pink shrimp, and found the microplastics can travel from gills or mouths to meat that humans eat. Granek said researchers suspect the high levels in shrimp and herring likely owe to them feeding on plankton on the surface of the water. The plankton often accumulates in ocean fronts and moves in tides in the same way as microplastics, Granek said. Young lamprey that feed around the riverbed also show higher levels, but the levels dropped in older lamprey that move into the ocean. Chinook salmon showed the lowest levels, though it was not a fully apples to apples comparison – researchers only looked at filets, which are largely what humans eat, and checked the entire body of the smaller fish and shrimp.

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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/03/seafood-microplastic-contamination-study