Extreme ocean plastic pollution will drive marine species to extinction

Experts say that if some species are surpassed by extreme pollution during reproduction, there simply won’t be a next generation of those species.

In their work, the scientists assessed how contact with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pellets, which are used in the manufacture of a huge range of products, can affect the healthy development of seven marine species belonging to all major animal groups in the ocean.

As experts have observed, when these species are exposed to high levels of PVC pellets, their offspring are found to have many different abnormalities. Some of them fail to form a shell or notochord, while others stop developing altogether after several stages of cell division. In any case, viable embryos do not appear.