Student raises red flags after making alarming discovery in fish samples from one US region: 'People don't know much about it'

A first-of-its-kind study in Appalachia revealed disturbing findings about microplastic pollution in the region's water and fish.

What's happening?

Isabella Tuzzio, a biology undergraduate student at West Virginia University, studied fish from streams throughout Central Appalachia. Every single sampled fish contained microplastics, according to a university report posted by Phys.org.

Her research was published in the journal Sustainability.

In particular, Tuzzio researched the northern hogsucker fish. A total of 2,185 microplastic particles were identified in the 55 fish she sampled, or nearly 40 per fish, with some containing as many as 274 particles.

All the fish were juveniles, ranging from about 2 to 5 inches in length, and Tuzzio found a positive correlation between the length of a fish and how many microplastic particles it contained.

"These results point to widespread levels of microplastic contamination in freshwater ecosystems in North Central Appalachia," she wrote with her colleagues in the report.

Why is microplastic contamination important?

Plastic doesn't effectively biodegrade, but it can instead break down into smaller pieces over time. Eventually, tiny particles break off. These particles are known as microplastics, which are no bigger than 5 millimeters in diameter — some are so small that they can't be seen with the naked eye.

But despite the small size of the particles, microplastic is a significant form of pollution that brings health concerns for humans and animals alike. 

"I think it's definitely an emerging contaminant," Tuzzio said in the university report. "People don't know much about it, and we hope our research sparks conversations about sustainability and inspires action to protect the streams and communities of Appalachia."

It has been estimated that more than 170 trillion pieces of plastic are in our oceans, and many are microplastics. From there, the particles are easy for marine life to ingest. 

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They've been discovered in seafood and aquatic organisms in various parts of the world, including a recent study that discovered them in more than 80% of freshwater mussels. The particles are so prevalent that researchers even found them in the breath of bottlenose dolphins.

Because the fragments are so small, they don't just get into waterways. They leach into soil and are in the air we breathe. From there, they get into our organs — so much so that 24 human brains sampled in 2024 contained an average of 0.48% plastic by weight.

What's being done about microplastic contamination?

The study said the microplastic contamination in these Appalachian streams likely came from agricultural land and sewage, and that the only way to prevent aquatic life from ingesting microplastics is to reduce and prevent them from reaching waterways in the first place.

The best way to keep plastic pollution out of the oceans and waterways is to simply use less plastic. This can happen through decisions made not just in legislatures and corporate boardrooms, but also in every household.

Ditching single-use beauty products, bringing your own bags to the grocery store, or buying a reusable water bottle may not seem like huge changes, but each of those means less plastic thrown out, which provides fewer opportunities for microplastics to pollute our planet.

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