Almost all aspects of daily life involve plastics, and consequently the production of plastics has increased substantially the last 60 years. Plastics are persistent materials, which tend to accumulate in the marine environment and affect marine life as they remain there for years.

The microplastic (MP) are generally defined as all plastic particles less than 1 mm and can have several origins / sources. Primary MPs are included in industrial abrasives, exfoliants, cosmetics, and pre-production plastic beads the latter being one of the main components of marine debris. Secondary MPs are products of degradation (mechanical forces and /  or photochemical processes) plastic debris. Another important part of the secondary MPs comes from synthetic fibers produced during our laundry.

Those particles also contain additives such as UV-stabilizers, colourings, flame retardants and plasticizers, which are transported by the particles and are susceptible for uptake and accumulation by living organisms. These microplastic can adsorb persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and facilitate their transfer in marine food webs. These POPs can be several orders of magnitude more concentrated in MPs as compared to  the surrounding water.

Although the absorption of MPs from different marine organisms began to be reported in the literature about the biological effects of MP are still very limited.