Plastic particles are found in our organs, blood and even semen. But do they stay in us forever? What damage are they doing? Here are six questions scientists are trying to answer.

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Plastic Free July is upon us! Rebecca Prince-Ruiz, founder of Plastic Free July, encourages people to take the challenge with friends, start small and keep a “plastic-free kit” on hand.

(Image credit: Zayrha Rodriguez)

The new study has scientists concerned that microplastics may be contributing to reproductive health issues.

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Kenya was hailed for its decision to outlaw single use plastic bags in 2016, with remarkably hefty penalties. So why are the bags back in stores, piling up in dumps — and being ingested by livestock?

Trash from humans is constantly spilling into the ocean — so much so that there are five gigantic garbage patches in the seas. They hang out at the nexus of the world's ocean currents, changing shape with the waves. The largest is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. These areas were long thought to have been uninhabited, the plastics and fishing gear too harmful to marine life. But researchers have recently uncovered a whole ecosystem of life in this largest collection of trash. Today, with the help of marine biologist Fiona Chong, we meet the tiny marine life that calls this place home.

Read Fiona and her collaborators' paper, High concentrations of floating neustonic life in the plastic-rich North Pacific Garbage Patch

Interested in hearing other tales of marine life?

A new study takes a comprehensive look at the plastic debris smothering reefs, where in the ocean it's more prevalent — and how to deal with the problem.

A study of plastic trash hauled out of the Pacific Ocean found that most of it had been colonized by coastal life that was thriving right next to species that normally live in the open sea.

(Image credit: Linsey Haram)

A new study from Australia shows that larvae of the darkling beetle can eat polystyrene — the material behind plastic foam.

Oxygen levels, necessary for fish, are up and dangerous phosphorus levels are down in the historically polluted waterway. But a new report points to climate change as a possible wildcard.

(Image credit: Justin Tallis)

A new study suggests there is far more plastic in the Atlantic Ocean than scientists estimated earlier, especially tiny pieces of plastic that can end up inside fish and other animals.

(Image credit: Michael O'Neill)