Environmental Science
The Impact of Microbeads on Freshwater Zooplankton Populations
Quick fact
Studies show that microbeads can reduce zooplankton feeding rates by up to 50% and inhibit reproduction, leading to population declines that ripple through the entire freshwater food web.
Why this is interesting
You might think that a single tiny plastic bead could never harm an ecosystem, but when a thousand of them sit in a lake, they can starve the very creatures that feed the fish. What happens to these miniature plastic balls when they slip past treatment plants?