UK Startup Naturbeads Secures Series A Round to Further Pioneering Technology That Addresses Worldwide Microplastic Pollution  Business Wire

Microplastics are invisible but omnipresent.

Mussels exposed to high levels of microplastic pollution display signs of stress, new research has shown. However, levels of exposure were higher than found in the wild and no effect on the energy reserves of either mussels or lugworms was observed in the lab. tests. The researchers caution that longer experiments may be needed to reveal microplastics' full effects.

Microplastic pollution impairs the heath of the marine worms that help maintain sediments for other creatures, new research suggests. This study shows that the energy reserves of lugworms living in sediment contaminated with microplastic particles were reduced by up to 50%.

From afar, it might look like Michelle Blewitt is teaching bystanders how to pan for gold, as she vigorously shakes a sieve full of sand on a beach, but on closer inspection, she is teaching locals how to hunt for microplastics.

Microplastics pollution is causing disruption and behavioural changes among hermit crab populations, researchers have claimed.

We hear a lot about plastics breaking down at sea, but scientists are discovering that a shocking quantity of plastic enters the ocean already in microscopic form.