Researchers Detect Microplastics in Dolphin Breath [Video]

For the first time, researchers have found microplastics in dolphin breath, raising concerns over the amount of microplastics the animals are drawing when they come up for air.

The team collected samples of air released by five bottlenose dolphins in Sarasota Bay, Florida and six dolphins in Barataria Bay, Louisiana in May and June of 2023. Researchers took extra precautions before collecting exhalation samples from the dolphin blowholes to clean any ocean water from the blowhole area to avoid contamination.

They found suspected microplastics in all exhalation samples and a total of 54 unique particles across all of the samples. The scientists published their findings in the journal PLOS ONE.

“We know that microplastics are floating around in the air, so we suspected that we would find microplastics in breath samples,” the authors said, as reported by AZoCleantech. “We are concerned by what we are seeing because dolphins have a large lung capacity and take really …