Microplastic toxins leave shellfish at mercy of predators - research

Chemical cocktail suppresses periwinkles' ability to avoid crabs and disrupts food chain

Toxins leaching from microplastics leave shellfish at the mercy of predators, research has found. The chemicals completely suppress the ability of the periwinkles to detect and avoid the crabs that eat them.

Microplastics plague the world's rivers and oceans and absorb poisonous chemicals from the water. Previous work has shown mussels are harmed by these toxins when they eat microplastics, but the latest study is the first to show disruption of the relationship between predator and prey. This is likely to disrupt the entire food chain, researchers say.