Microbes Turn Plastic Waste into a New Global Ecosystem, Raising Health Concerns

The plastisphere concept emerged in 2013 when Linda Amaral-Zettler and colleagues named the diverse microbial ecosystem that develops on plastic debris. Because plastics repel water, they readily support biofilm formation, which paves the way for a multitude of microscopic and even some macroscopic organisms. A 2019 investigation of a long-drifting ABS buoy in the South one outlet revealed a complex community of hitchhiking microbes, highlighting how plastic can transport otherwise immobile species.

Antarctic research stations have found native microbes on local plastic but no human-pathogenic bacteria, while a 2023 Barcelona study reported abundant pathogenic strains and antibiotic-resistance genes on urban microplastics. In the Colombian Caribbean’s Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta, scientists catalogued 1,760 bacterial genera on plastics from water, sediment and fish, raising concerns about human health and ecosystem balance. Experts stress that the plastisphere represents a novel biome whose full implications are only beginning to be understood.