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A recent study from Portland State University (PSU) revealed a disturbing reality: microplastics were found in nearly every seafood sample tested along the West Coast of the United States. These “anthropogenic particles”—materials created or altered by human activity—were detected in the edible tissues of six common seafood species: black scorpionfish, cod, black salmon, Pacific herring, Pacific lamprey, and pink shrimp.
Microplastics were found in 180 of the 182 seafood samples analyzed. Pink shrimp had the highest concentration, while black salmon had the lowest. “We found that smaller organisms appeared to consume more anthropogenic, non-nutritive particles,” says Elise Granek, a microplastics researcher and co-author of the study.
This is not an isolated discovery.
A comprehensive study by the charity Ocean Conservancy found that about 88% of protein samples, including meat and fish, contained microplastic particles. The study also found that the average American adult is exposed to about 3.8 million microplastics per year through these proteins.
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