Plastic Pollution May Be Spreading Antibiotic Resistance

plastic pollution

The two great worries of the modern era, together at last.

Each year, millions of tonnes of plastic enter our oceans. Many of the negative effects of all this plastic are well known: it poisons fish, entangles sea turtles, and has been implicated in the deaths of sperm whales.

New research raises yet another concern: marine plastics may be spreading antibiotic resistance. A recent study in Northern Ireland found that almost all of the marine plastics studied harbored antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

LINK (via: Hakai Magazine)

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