Stirling University study to probe disease spread by plastic

Assessing how dangerous they are is the aim of a groundbreaking £1.85 million project led by Scottish scientists. It will look at how viruses and bacteria attached to plastics in seas, rivers and estuaries can affect people swimming in the sea or even just lying in the sand near such pollution.

While the threat that plastics pose to marine life is already well known, many questions remain on the possible threat to humans.

Experts at Stirling University will lead the new project investigating how marine plastics transport bacteria and viruses.

Scientists from Stirling’s Faculty of Natural Sciences, working with the Universities of Bangor and Warwick are aiming to understand how plastics act as vehicles, with the potential to spread pathogens within coastal zones, or even from country to country, and how that affects health.

Environmental biologist Dr Richard Quilliam is lead investigator on the new study, funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).

He said: “While the impacts of marine plastics on wildlife are already well known, little research has been carried out to understand potential human health hazards posed by pathogens bound to their surface.

“Our study will consider how pathogens bind to plastics in the ocean and how this process helps bacteria and viruses ‘hitch a ride’ to spread across the world – to places that they would never have ended up if they had just been floating freely.

“Potential impacts to humans could be caused through the food chain – for example, ocean zooplankton eat plastics, which are then eaten by fish and, ultimately, humans – or by people ingesting water, swimming in the sea or lying in the sand near marine plastics.”

International studies have shown that around eight million tonnes of plastic enters oceans each year, most of which is discarded on land.

In a statement, Stirling University said: The team will characterise the colonisation dynamics of pathogenic viruses, bacteria and toxic algae that bind to plastics and consider whether that process boosts their survivability, by offering protection from harmful ultraviolet light and predation.”

Dr Quilliam added: “We will also seek to investigate whether toxic algae survives longer when it has something to bind on and a habitat to live in. We believe marine plastics may improve the survival and persistence of pathogens in the environment.”

“This is a novel research area and our work is likely to result in new environmental guidelines, strategies and management plans designed to reduce the likelihood of marine plastics being bound by pathogens.”

The study will also analyse the behaviour of microplastics – small, barely visible pieces of plastic that enter and pollute the environment through waste water treatment works – that have become colonised by microbes through rivers and estuaries and into the ocean. In addition, the project will consider the role of microbes in the biodegradation of plastics

Professor Peter Golyshin, of Bangor University, said: “We will be estimating the amount and composition of microplastics entering UK rivers and coastal systems.

“We will then be modelling how long they take to reach coastal zones with high biodiversity and shell fisheries, depending on different weather scenarios. We will also estimate the potential of naturally-occurring microorganisms to colonise and degrade microplastic particles.”

The study – Microbial hitch-hikers of marine plastics: the survival, persistence and ecology of microbial communities in the ‘Plastisphere’ – is funded under the fourth round of NERC highlight topics, which splits £24 million between 14 research projects.

In this latest round of funding, Scottish research into the effects of light pollution on birds is also being supported.

NERC associate director of research, Ned Garnett, said: “The provision of top quality environmental research has never been more essential as we continue to tackle some of the greatest environmental challenges of our time.”