The tiny particles that shed from clothing, packaging and other plastic products are winding up in the fish that people eat, according to a new study from Portland State researchers, highlighting a need for technologies and strategies to reduce microfiber pollution entering the environment.
The tiny particles that shed from clothing, packaging and other plastic products are winding up in the fish that people eat, according to a new study from Portland State researchers, highlighting a need for technologies and strategies to reduce microfiber pollution entering the environment.
Building on previous research exploring the prevalence of microplastics in bivalves like Pacific oysters and razor clams, researchers in PSU’s Applied Coastal Ecology Lab — led by Elise Granek, professor of environmental science and management — turned their focus to commonly eaten finfish and crustaceans.
Summer Traylor, who graduated in 2022 with a master’s in environmental management, led the project with assistance from undergraduate environmental science student Marilyn Duncan, who graduated in 2024. The team set out to fill in gaps about microplastic contamination in Oregon finfish and shellfish and better understand variations across trophic levels, which classify a fish’s position in the food chain, and in pathways to consumers. Traylor’s research helped her land a job working for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) after graduating from PSU, and Duncan has plans to continue microplastics research in graduate school.
The team quantified anthropogenic particles, materials produced or modified by humans, that they found in the edible tissue of six species that are economically or culturally important in Oregon: black rockfish, lingcod, Chinook salmon, Pacific herring, Pacific lamprey, and pink shrimp.
Read more at Portland State University
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