Microplastics and Pollution Combine to Become Much More Toxic: Study

Researchers find pollutants can hitch a ride on microplastics and harm human cells.

Tainted microplastics can continue to make their way up the food chain, inadvertently exposing humans. Shutterstock

Microplastics can pick up pollution in their travels and pose an even greater threat to human health, according to a new study.

In the ocean, for example, toxic compounds can hitch a ride on plastic and make the material 10 times more toxic than it would normally be, according to the research published earlier this year in Chemosphere.