Researchers say plastic issue may be generationalBy Yang Yuan-ting and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writerExposure to microplastics might drastically reduce the survivability of marine organisms through harm done to subsequent generations, Taipei-based researchers said yesterday. The paper, titled “Intergenerational microplastics impact the intertidal barnacle Amphibalanus amphitrite during the planktonic larval and benthic adult stages,” said that barnacles exposed to microplastics had prominent intergenerational effects, although the researchers found no within-generation effects. Academia Sinica researcher Benny Chan, left, poses for a photograph with other researchers in Taipei yesterday. “Adverse intergenerational effects of microplastics might drastically reduce larval recruitment and threaten long-term zooplankton sustainability,” the researchers wrote. An additional 28 percent stems from tire wear and 24 percent is contributed by plastic waste floating at sea, he said.

Source: Taipei Times December 04, 2020 15:56 UTC