Plastic Soup Foundation
  • The issue
      • Plastic Soup
      • What is plastic?
      • Plastic in the environment
      • Harm to animals
      • Health effects
      • Regulations
      • Bogus solutions
      • Responsibilities
      • Sustainable development
      • Facts & Figures
  • What we do
      • Health
      • Microplastics
      • Education
      • Plastic Waste
  • How you can help
      • Consumer
      • Business
      • Community
      • Kids
      • At school
  • Solutions
  • News
  • Donate
  • NL
  • EN
  • Search
  • Menu Menu
You are here: News Pathogenic bacteria travel the waters on microplastics

Pathogenic bacteria travel the waters on microplastics

In a recent study, evidence shows that the Vibrio spp. genus of bacteria can populate floating pieces of microplastics in the marine environment. Vibrio spp. is a well-known genus of bacteria containing pathogenic strains to humans (e.g. cholera) and animals alike. Plastic debris and microplastics have a low biodegradability making them persist in the environment and potential vectors for spreading pathogens. A group of researchers in Germany recently published their study in the journal Marine Environmental Research. The researchers collected samples from 39 stations in the North Sea and 5 in the Baltic Sea and their paper illustrates that:

  • It is the first study where scientists were able to clearly identify (through DNA sequencing) multiple Vibrio water strains including pathogenic species such as parahaemolyticus and V. cholerae
  • Almost all microplastic samples show weathering, cracks and pitting in the plastic and evidence of ‘plastisphere’ communities (bacterial colonies growing in a biofilm)
  • The most common types of microplastic material found drifting in the sea water were, polyethelene, followed by polypropylene and polystyrene – supporting prior investigations which depict high abundance of these plastics in the environment.

This study further reinforces the issue of plastic pollution and its effect on the quality of water and the marine environment. The fact that pathogenic strains of the Vibrio genus of bacteria are able to survive on microplastics is disconcerting. The study at hand focused only on Vibrio spp., but perhaps it is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to human pathogenic bacteria on floating plastics.

Search

Categories

  • Synthetic fibers (19)
  • Political plume (3)
  • actions frontpage (1)
  • nurdles (5)
  • Pressreleases (2)
  • Microplastics in cosmetics (1)
  • Junior (1)
  • No category (1)
  • News (532)
  • What can you do? (13)
  • Health Files (38)
  • Clean rivers (24)
  • Plastic soupermarket (2)
  • Trash hunters (49)
  • What is plastic soup? (12)
  • What to do with plastic waste? (12)
  • Types of plastic (3)
  • Press releases (16)
  • Beat the microbead (16)
  • Solutions (11)
  • Don't use balloons (3)
  • Gezondheidseffecten (56)
  • Animal cruelty (13)
  • sponsoring campaign (1)
  • Microbeads (27)
  • Sponsor actions (3)
  • Ocean Clean Wash (12)
  • About us (1)
  • Plastic Urban Mining (4)
  • Blogs (16)
  • My little plastic footprint (5)
  • Plastic Soup Awards (3)

Subscribe to our newsletter

and stay informed about our activities!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Donate now and contribute

I'll donate € 5I'll donate € 10I'll donate € 15Other amount

More news

Plastic rocks on an isolated island

The sombre message of stones made of plastic found on an uninhabited island far from the Brazilian coast.

Read more

EU ban on microplastics in cosmetics: too slow and too limited

Cosmetics companies selling personal care products without microplastics are calling for the swift introduction of a total ban in an open letter.

Read more

Sungai Watch prevents Bali’s plastic waste from reaching the ocean

In Bali, more and more rivers are being cleaned from plastic waste every day. What do Dutch travel suitcases made from recycled ocean plastic have to do with that?

Read more

Chemicals plastic cause overweight

Scientists suspect that fat formation in human bodies is stimulated by plastic.

Read more

About us

  • Frontrunners
  • Mission & Vision
  • Our People
  • Working with Us
  • Annual Reports
  • Inquiries Press
  • Newsletter

Our approach

  • Plastic Soup Angels
  • Funds & Partners
  • Ambassadors
  • Plastic Soup Awards
  • Plastic Soup Atlas
  • Facts & Figures
DONATE
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • LinkedIn

  • YouTube

  • Contact

 
© Copyright - Plastic Soup Foundation
  • Contact
  • Privacy policy
  • GDPR Consent Settings
Microbeads turn fish into toxic foodPlastic Soup Foundation and Parley for the Oceans Form Alliance to end Plastic...
Scroll to top

GDPR settings

This website uses some cookies which are placed on your device. Your web browser stores these cookies when you visit our Website: www.plasticsoupfoundation.org. These cookies will be retrieved when you visit or use our Website again. This allows us to recognise you as a previous visitor/user.

x
Settings

Your privacy and this website...

This website uses some cookies which are placed on your device. Your web browser stores these cookies when you visit our Website: www.plasticsoupfoundation.org. These cookies will be retrieved when you visit or use our Website again. This allows us to recognise you as a previous visitor/user.

Functional technology enables a website to remember information that changes the way the website behaves or looks, like your preferred language or the region that you are in. No personalised information is collected.

See details

This consent is used to track visitors across websites. The intention is to display ads that are relevant and engaging for the individual user and thereby more valuable for publishers and third party advertisers.

See details

This consent helps website owners to understand how visitors interact with websites by collecting and reporting.

See details
Forget my settings Settings have been forgotten