Dr. Róisín Nash:

Absolutely. We might also consider marine debris which is made up of larger objects that end up as microplastics. There is a huge amount of research that has not yet been published. Studies of seabed integrity are under way. They are looking at the invertebrate animals that live in the seabed to see if they are affected. One such study is ongoing in trawls. We have found microplastics in several spider crabs, or normal harbour crabs. A lot of information to be released in the next eight months will make the case a lot more robust.