A study found microplastics in all three coral anatomical parts—surface mucus, tissue, and skeleton. Findings suggest corals may act as a “sink” for microplastics, potentially explaining the missing plastic problem. This study highlights the impact of plastic pollution on marine ecosystems.

I’ve linked to the press release in the post above. In this comment, for those interested, here’s the link to the peer reviewed journal article:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969724063666

From the linked article:

Researchers from Japan and Thailand investigating microplastics in coral have found that all three parts of the coral anatomy—surface mucus, tissue, and skeleton—contain microplastics. The findings were made possible thanks to a new microplastic detection technique developed by the team and applied to coral for the first time.

These findings may also explain the ‘missing plastic problem’ that has puzzled scientists, where about 70% of the plastic litter that has entered the oceans cannot be found. The team hypothesizes that coral may be acting as a ‘sink’ for microplastics by absorbing it from the oceans. Their findings were published in the journal Science of the Total Environment.

Humanity’s dependence on plastics has brought unprecedented convenience to our lives but has caused untold damage to our ecosystem in ways researchers are still beginning to understand. In the oceans alone, it is estimated that 4.8–12.7 million tons of plastics flow into the marine environment annually.