Researchers say tiny shreds of plastic, known as “microplastics,” have been building up in Tampa Bay, threatening marine life, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
The microplastics can collect and concentrate toxins that can sicken any marine life that consumes the shreds.
Three years ago, Eckerd College marine science professor David Hastings told the Times he noticed some samples taken from Tampa Bay had microplastics.
Undergraduate students have been finding the pollutants in every sample. The concentrations of microplastics were “high compared to the oceans,” Hastings told the Times.