A study conducted by the National History Museum has found that 28% of fish living in the Thames Estuary have eaten microplastics.
Research into the UK’s plastic pollution has also revealed that 39% of fish in the Firth of Clyde estuary in Scotland were similarly affected.
Microplastics – pieces of plastic smaller than five millimetres – are having an enormous impact on some UK estuaries and the fish that live in them. The digestive tracts of 876 fish and shrimp from the Thames and Firth of Clyde were examined. Of the 21 species investigated, 14 had microplastics in their guts.