Fig 1.
PRISMA flowchart providing the steps of data collection for the systematic review of evidence for bioaccumulation and biomagnification in a general marine food web.
The review focussed on microplastics and associated chemical additives detected in marine species from coastal, pelagic, reef and deep-sea environments.
Fig 2.
Body burden of bioaccumulated microplastics individual-1 estimated for different trophic levels, based on reports for marine species collected in situ (a) 1 to 2.9, (b) 3 to 3.9, and (c) 4 to 4.5, and exposed in laboratory experiments (d) 2 to 3.7. Data have been organised to show the minimum, first quartile, median, mean (X), third quartile, maximum and outliers (°). Trophic levels have been grouped into to a single decimal place, e.g. level 4.2 includes 4.21 to 4.29. Note different scales on y-axes in panels a-c) compared to panel d).
Fig 3.
Body burden of bioaccumulated microplastics individual-1 estimated for different feeding strategies, based on reports for marine species collected in situ (a), and exposed in laboratory experiments (b). Data have been organised into feeding strategies and presented to show the minimum, first quartile, median, mean (X), third quartile, maximum and outliers (°). Note different scales on y-axes. Mean (X) values for (b) laboratory conditions are exclusive of outlier values.
Fig 4.
Frequency of microplastic (MP) shapes reported in studies on marine species collected in situ and exposed in laboratory experiments.
Data has been organised by trophic level, which are grouped into to a single decimal place, i.e. level 4.2 includes 4.21 to 4.29. Microplastic shapes include those found in organisms collected from field samples (n = 87 studies; dark shaded on bottom) or used in laboratory experiments investigating MP uptake, including those focused on trophic transfer (n = 22 studies; light shaded on top). Details regarding the number and percentage of studies for each level have been provided in S8 Table in S1 File.
Table 1.
Environmental contamination and bioaccumulation of microplastics (MP) for marine organisms (MPs individual-1) collected in situ.
Fig 5.
Frequency of microplastic (MP) polymer types confirmed in studies on marine species collected in situ and exposed in laboratory experiments.
Data has been organised by trophic level, which are grouped into to a single decimal place, i.e. level 4.2 includes 4.21 to 4.29. Microplastic polymers include those found in organisms collected from field samples (n = 87 studies; dark shaded on bottom) or used in laboratory experiments investigating MP uptake, including those focused on trophic transfer (n = 22 studies; light shaded on top). Note that not all studies confirmed or reported MP polymer types. Details regarding the number and percentage of studies for each trophic level have been provided in S8 Table in S1 File. ‘Other’ includes less frequently found polymers such as: PAN, PMMA, CP, PC, ABS, EVA, PVA, PUR, PTFE, ASA, acrylic, alkyd and epoxy. Some varieties of polymers have been grouped together (i.e. PE includes HDPE, MDPE and LDPE; PET includes PET and PES).