Plastic Threats and Marine Ecosystem

Plastics represent one of the most serious environmental threats facing the world today. Our research group investigates the impacts of plastics on marine ecosystems, including deep-sea hydrothermal vent systems and blue carbon ecosystems. We recently confirmed microplastic(MP) contamination in a hydrothermal vent and provided the first evidence that biological concentrations, accumulation, and magnification of MPs occurred in the ecosystem (Park et al. 2024).

• Plastic cycles and blue carbon ecosystems

• Linking feeding types of cetaceans to microplastic (MP) exposure associated with bisphenol A (BPA)

• Comparative analysis of microplastics in lung and intestinal contents of finless porpoises

• Microplastic contamination in hydrothermal vent ecosystems

• Microplastic ingestion by large marine animals

• Derelict fishing gear and sea turtle strandings

• Macroplastic ingestion in fin whales