4. Discussion
Research on plastics pollution in the ocean has focused on the
macroplastics fraction which affects at least 267 marine species
by ingestion or entanglement (Derraik, 2002; Moore, 2008).
Although macroplastics in the oceans are broken down into smaller
pieces and therefore become available to more organisms for
ingestion (Moore, 2008), here we have highlighted that the average
consumer is directly releasing microplastics of a size suitable for
ingestion by marine organisms without degradation.
Fig. 2.