# Les micro-plastiques, vecteurs de contamination chimique et biologique (Ifremer 00644-75637)

In the ocean, plastic waste generates particles through fragmentation: microplastics. Estimated at 5,000 billion, these particles represent an immense cumulative surface area, which microalgae, bacteria and viruses colonize. This new marine ecosystem is called the plastisphere.

Microplastics also act like a magnet, concentrating chemical pollutants found in the sea on their surface: this is called absorption.

Transported by ocean currents, microplastics can travel long distances. They are therefore vectors of biological and chemical contaminants, which can be ingested by marine animals. At Ifremer, researchers are studying the impact of this plastic pollution on marine ecosystems, and in particular on the seafood we consume.

This film was made using computer-generated images.

- Kind: Short
- Year: 2019
- Runtime: 1 min
- By: Olivier Dugornay, Emina Mamaca
- Archive: [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Les_micro-plastiques,_vecteurs_de_contamination_chimique_et_biologique_(Ifremer_00644-75637).webm)
- Licence or status: [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) (as the archive states it)
- Credit: Olivier Dugornay, Emina Mamaca
- Who can watch: Teens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/commons/160658711?play=1)