Microplastics have been found in the guts of one-in-six fish in the Red Sea, shattering its status as the world's least plastic-polluted body of water, according to a new study published by Daily Mail.
The study means that Red Sea fish are ingesting as much plastic as those in other seas across the globe, where levels of the floating waste are far higher.
It spells trouble for people who eat fish from the region, as the microplastics are likely to get into their diet, scientists said.
The tiny fragments, which contaminate oceans when larger pieces of plastic break down, are known to pass down the food chain, potentially causing organ damage.
Researchers at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia collected 178 fish belonging to 26 species from four Red Sea habitats.
Examination of their gut contents showed that one in every six fish had ingested small pieces of plastic.
This is similar to findings from other parts of the globe, despite research reporting that the Red Sea has the lowest amount of floating microplastics in seas worldwide.
Many of the pieces found came from synthetic clothing that had been washed in a washing machine.
The tiny fragments of waste then pass through the sewage system, where they are eventually dumped into the sea.
'The major finding of this study is that microplastic pollution has reached our commercial and non-commercial fish species and might contaminate the fish we consume,' said study coauthor Fadiyah Baalkhuyur.
'The surprising finding was the amount of ingested fibers originating from the degradation of plastic debris, such as those from packaging materials and from washing synthetic clothing.
'This might suggest that these fibers are spread out in all the marine habitats and might become a significant source of marine pollution in the Red Sea.'
As much as 80 percent of plastic litter found in the oceans comes from land-based activities.
Once plastics enter the ocean, they are dispersed by currents or sink to the seafloor, slowly breaking down into smaller components.
Microplastics are pieces that are smaller than five millimeters.
They are often ingested by marine life because they are similar in size to the prey of a large number of marine organisms.
They can block or injure an animal's digestive tract and can also have toxic effects when hazardous components leach into the surrounding tissues.
Fish could prove to be a major sink for the large amount of plastics that we use and throw away on a daily basis.
Researchers said they are now setting up an experimental design to examine the process of microplastic uptake by fish under laboratory conditions.
