さまざまな栄養段階の海洋生物ヘのプラスチック摂食の影響

摘要

Plastic wastes have become distributed around the world ocean during the past four decades, and their effects on marine organisms have been documented. We summarized some reports of plastic ingestion by marine organisms except for seabirds. Frequency of encountering plastic ingested by whales, sea turtles and lancet fish have been increased. Plastic size and polymer types of ingested plastics were associated with body size and foraging behavior of marine organisms. Microplastics (< 5 mm size) may affect on smaller marine organisms such as detritivores, deposit feeders and filter feeders. Since plastic can be a carrier of pollutants, it could be a new exposure route of hazardous chemicals to marine ecosystems. Plastics, especially microplastics, and associated hazardous chemicals might be a threat to the whole marine ecosystems.