Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Extended Essay Microplastics in The Indian Ocean hqn516
Extended Essay Microplastics in The Indian Ocean hqn516
Research Question: To what extent does microplastic contamination impact the food chains
of marine life in the Indian Ocean from the last 30 years?
Subject: Biology SL
May 2022
Candidate ID: hqn516
Word Count: 3,938
Abstract:
Microplastics are the result of the decomposition of plastic throughout the years. In
the ocean, due to waves, sunlight, and other natural causes, plastic decomposes into smaller
pieces that are rarely visible to the eye. Unfortunately, in many cases, due to the way
different marine animals, such as fish, breathe in these microplastics or digest them from
the algae that they eat, a chain reaction is caused in which plastic is stored inside animals’
bodies, since their immune system does not know how to digest microplastics. By
consequence, in biology this is known as biomagnification, when one fish eats a smaller
one, it stores its energy and its calories.
As a focus for this investigation, a marine food chain from the Indian ocean will be
observed. Through a variety of sources, an exponential equation was observed for the
biomagnification over 10, 20 and 30 years. The food chain chosen was of
Sunlight →Macrocystis pyrifera → Coenobita scaevola → Premnas biaculeatuv →
Sphyraena barracuda → Homo sapiens.
This way, creating a simulator that helped represent the collected data and
concluding by showing it to a group of young children to create awareness. Finally,
creating a mathematical representation of the biomagnification in this food chain in a more
formal manner.
Through the simulator, the biomagnification of microplastics in the chosen Indian
Ocean food chain was demonstrated (despite its inaccuracies) and that it would eventually
affect humans over a period of 30 years. As there is a larger percentage of microplastics as
we find ourselves higher in the food chain.
Table of Contents
Introduction: ........................................................................................................................... 1
Methodology: ......................................................................................................................... 3
Simulator: ............................................................................................................................. 12
References: ........................................................................................................................... 21
Bibliography ......................................................................................................................... 22
Appendix …………………………………………………………………………………. 27
Table Index
Table 1 .................................................................................................................................... 8
Table 2 .................................................................................................................................... 8
Table 3 .................................................................................................................................... 9
Table 4 .................................................................................................................................. 10
1
Introduction:
Without giving it much thought, humans almost completely forget about the ocean.
Ironically, we are surrounded by it, yet not much is known about marine life and how it
works. We enjoy eating the ocean´s fish but then we throw garbage into that very same
ocean. Soon, if we do not make a change we will be living by an ocean of plastic and eating
that plastic. Microplastic contamination is becoming a worldwide issue in desperate need of
control. It is specifically affecting marine food webs and ecosystems (Setala,O, et.al.,
,2018). One of the victims of plastic pollution is the Indian Ocean, home to a wide variety
of marine animals, sea turtles, sharks, whales, seahorses, dolphins, amongst many others
(DTE. S, 2019). Scientists investigating a remote archipelago in the Indian Ocean, the
Cocos Keeling Islands, found over 414 tonnes of plastic waste items. Including roughly
373,000 toothbrushes and 997,000 shoes (what the islands would usually produce in four
thousand years). This demonstrates how plastic travels from one ocean to the next
contaminating everything it encounters (DTE. S, 2019).
The unfortunate fate for most plastics is that they start decomposing into smaller
pieces. These will eventually measure from 100nm to 5 Mm in diameter (Setala, O et.al.,
2018). (Most are not visible to the naked eye). Not only is this an issue for marine animals,
but for us humans too. For example, the problem of mercury intoxication for humans and
cats. This example is taken from cases related to biomagnification in tuna fish, the fact is
that in the coal industry, toxic waste substances such as metals and zinc are disposed of and
got into the tuna population. When intoxicated tuna was eaten by humans and cats there
was a result over time on their health. For example, cats which were intoxicated by mercury
presented “degenerations of the granular layer and some Purkinje neurons in the
cerebellum” (Chang, L,1974). Are concerns expressed by scientists that this same effect
will occur in humans (due to the toxins in plastics), as these decompose, they release
Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) and others substances, that can cause cancer, endocrine
disruptions, birth deficiencies and others (Coalition Plastic pollution, 2019).
A study by MEDLINE, EMBASE and Web of Science about microplastics in salt
and its effect on humans, portrays the concerns that lead to the development of this
2
Methodology:
For the experiment, it was decided to make a simulator of a food chain chosen from the
Indian Ocean. Collecting data from various sources and then interpreting it to be able to
inform children from a young age about the effect of microplastics on their lives. The
reason why the Indian Ocean was chosen is because it is one of the most contaminated
oceans in the world and it is not as large as the Pacific Ocean or the Atlantic Ocean,
meaning there is a vast percentage of biodiversity giving plenty of options to choose from.
In addition, ocean currents drag and concentrate microplastics transporting them from one
ocean to another including to the Indian ocean. To narrow down the location of the Indian
ocean, the sector chosen was the coral reef of the Indian ocean located at -29.87793,
81.49659. This is important as it is closer to the surface meaning there is more biodiversity
in this sector of the ocean, the food chain chosen lives in these coral reefs.
and they become lodged in their respiratory system and the animal also ingests them
from algae (for example) and then a predator that goes through the same breathing
process eats that animal, now storing the microplastics stored by the first animal in
addition to what they breathed themselves. This is what lead to the understanding of
biomagnification and the consideration of the following: Microplastic
contamination in the Indian Ocean will affect marine food chains creating a chain
reaction that by consequence causes humans to ingest these plastics through marine
animals.
5. Collecting data: Since I do not have the facilities to recollect data directly from the
Indian Ocean, I collected data on September 15th, 2021, from various trustworthy
sources. These sources are important as they are developed by professional
scientists who are from India or biologists throughout the world that are interested
in the problem of plastics and the biomagnification of microplastics. Yet, the bias
developed by the people that live in India, for example, they might want to collect
data that will not make their country look “bad”, there is always the possibility that
the data was modified with these intentions. Either way the data collected would
demonstrate in an exponential manner the problematic of plastic biomagnification.
6. Interpretation of data: After the research process to collect the data, basic math
additions were made which showed the increase of microplastics through the food
chain and then multiplied this as there was an increase year over year.
7. Organization of data: Once the data was obtained and I related it to
biomagnification, it was organized in tables and graphs.
8. Analysis of data: Being able to look at the results and pass it to the simulator which
was designed for children and to start building consciousness about microplastics.
Also, creating a discussion based on the investigation, the hypothesis and the data
collected.
9. Conclusions and Evaluations: Using the data to answer my investigation question
and evaluate my hypothesis. Also, to identify and comment on the range of error of
the experiment.
6
To adequately develop the research process and the experiment, reliable sources had
to be found. The information needed to be relevant to the Indian Ocean, various species and
what they eat. For example, the fact that there is much concern on seafood safety and the
way it will begin to intoxicate humans and animals. “As plastic attracts toxins in the
environment, these poisons could be released into people’s bodies after they eat fish”
(Fuller, B,2000). This, leading the focus towards the amount of microplastics that are stored
in the human body over a certain period of time, putting humans at the top of the food
chain. To choose the food chain, it was based on the fish that are eaten most by humans,
such as tuna, salmon, trout, cod, sardines, etc. Then, for the species that were mentioned
previously were searched for and found out in the article by Animal Diversity that salmon
does not live in the Indian Ocean, nevertheless, they have barracuda which commonly they
refer to as “Indian salmon” (Safe, M, 2017). Then going down the food chain and
discovering a food chain of fish that eat other sea animals and plants.
Sunlight →Macrocystis pyrifera → Coenobita scaevola → Premnas biaculeatuv → Sphyraena barracuda → Homo sapiens.
Once this was clear, sources were found that had information about the amount of
microplastics stored in seaweed and how much these animals had accumulated these during
a year from breathing and from swimming in the ocean surrounded by microplastics.
Firstly, “From a sample of 63.76 μg kg−1 sea water from Indian ocean a total of 0,5 μm of
microplastics”. According to the source, this is usually the amount of plastic found in the
respiratory system and muscles of small fishes such as clown fish and in the shells of
hermit crabs. Also, when larger fish are exposed to these, due to their higher breathing rate
7
and swimming velocity, they tend to have twice the amount of microplastics than smaller
marine animals (Andrew, C et al, 2020). Secondly, according to Qipei Li, et al (2020), in
the article “Microplastics in the Commercial Seaweed” there have been found in a vast
variety of samples of seaweed collected in the sea, that there are approximately 5Mm per
stem of seaweed. Third, in contaminated waters, there are studies that have found “0.5 Mm
after studies on hermit crabs” (Andrew, C et al, 2020). Then, similar studies indicate the
same percentage in clown fish and then double the quantity in great barracudas, meaning
1Mm of microplastics stored in their respiratory system and muscles (OCEANA,2021). All
of this ending up being consumed by the animal at the top of the food chain, the human,
consuming 7Mm of microplastics from this food chain a year.
Table 1
Time (years)
Once the data was organized in a table, it was seen from a clearer paronamic. The
amount of microplastics that is stored in the food chain always increments over the years.
Demonstrating that every 10 years, the amount of microplastics stored in each species´
bodies increments by 58.75 Mm. So, in 30 years, the total amount of microplastics stored in
humans is of 176,25 Mm. This proves the point of concern that scientists and doctors have
about the potentially dangerous future effects on humans caused by the toxins that plastic
eventually release into human and marine animal bodies.
Table 2
The bar graph demonstrates the total of microplastics stored in humans after eating
great barracudas. It shows that the total amount of microplastics increment over the years
independently of the range of error.
Table 3
Finally, a scatter graph was developed that permitted the understanding of the
exponential value of the amount of microplastic that are accumulated along the food chain.
As the graph shows, the amount of microplastics per species increments between each
interval of years, 10, 20 and 30. So, once this was done, an exponential equation for each
species was found.
For algae, logarithms were used to resolve the equation; 𝑌 = 𝑎𝑒 𝑏𝑡 . So, taking into
consideration the coordinates of the amount of microplastics vs time, the equation 3x2 was
followed.
10
Table 4
The process to obtain the final exponential equation was the following:
Resolving logarithm:
50 = 𝑎𝑒 𝑏(10)
𝑙𝑛 50 = ln (𝑎𝑒 𝑏10 )
ln 50 = ln 𝑎 + 𝑙𝑛 𝑒 𝑏10
𝑙𝑛50 = 𝑙𝑛𝑎 + 10𝑏
First equation for 3x2 system:
3,922 = 1𝑎 + 10𝑏
Repeat the previous process and obtained the following system:
3,922 = 1𝑎 + 10𝑏
{4,6051 = 1𝑎 + 20𝑏
2,18 = 1𝑎 + 30𝑏
When resolved in the calculator, it shows the value of “a” & “b” and of the correlation
coefficient (r).
a = 30, 28
b = 0,055
r = 0.98 → this meaning that the data collected has a strong correlation, since it is almost
100%.
Once these values were obtained, the following exponential equation for algae was
11
obtained:
ln 50 = 30,3𝑏 + 0,05𝑏
This process was repeated for hermit crab, clown fish, barracuda & humans.
The following equations:
Seaweed:
ln 50 = 30,3𝑎 + 0,05𝑏
Hermit Crab:
ln 55 = 33,3𝑎 + 0,05𝑏
Clown Fish:
ln 60 = 36,3𝑎 + 0,05𝑏
Barracuda & Humans:
ln 70 = 42,4𝑎 + 0,05𝑏
Based on the previous equations, it is clear that the progress of this experiment is
exponential. Since it grows by 0,05 every 10 years up to 30, the amount of microplastics
multiplies and grows, as seen on the scatter graph above.
12
Simulator:
Once the data collected was organized and understood, it was used to develop an
app in which children from 3rd and 4th grade (8–10-year-old) could interact with and start
building consciousness of the problems presented by plastics. “Marvel App” was used, it
was useful since it connects links that could lead to different slides and the children could
see the final slide that has an image of a child around their age with a stomach-ache
surrounded by plastic.
Figure 20 Figure 21
Despite its simplicity, there was a conversation with the children about how they are
contributing to the microplastics problem and how they can help. The idea is for them to
learn by doing and by seeing visually how much over the years they may be affected. As
seen from figures 7 – 18, the app leads from a small initial percentage of plastics to a large
one. This meaning that it created a “wow” factor on the students, for example one of the
children said “We should say “no” to people that offer us products made from plastic like
straws or bags. We should start to use products that are recyclable, that don´t contaminate,
and that are biodegradable. We should stop contaminating so much since we are going to
end up eating all the trash that we throw away”.
This is relevant since it is important to start telling the younger generations the
15
problems of this world to be able to culturally create the idea of recycling, reusing,
reducing, and refusing. Ironically the 4Rs have been told to us since we are children, but
something that has been noticed is that children see it as simply something that is affecting
the ocean or the trees, or the animals. Rarely has it been taught as something that affects us
as humans. The way it can affect our bodies, it is a complex effect to explain, especially the
side effect of toxins in plastic towards a body. Yet, through representation it shows a
stomach-ache, something that no one likes, even though sometimes they offer us an excuse
to miss school for a few days!
To formally represent the idea of data, in a more adult and scientific manner,
through Excel there was the creation of another simulator. In which the user can click on
the amount of plastic consumed, the time over the years, and then it automatically generates
the impact of the quantity of microplastics that will end up in the human body from
consuming the great barracuda.
Formal Simulator:
Step-by-step (screenshots Appendix B).
1. Choose the amount of microplastics (Mm)
16
3. Observe the impact, colour coded, yellow: low %, orange: medium %, light red:
large %, dark red: extreme %.
Considering the organization and collection of data, it was analysed that the
percentage of plastics has grown over the last 30 years, yet it should be considered that it is
exponential and not linear. The way that the amount of microplastics that grows over time,
could change in the future, the wave could start decreasing or increasing. It all depends on
the future actions of humanity, specifically, if we begin to consume less plastic and more
biodegradable products, the percentage of microplastics could start to decrease as less
plastic is entering the ocean. On the other hand, if we do not begin to make a change, the
amount of microplastics will continue to multiply and we will begin to succumb to the
effects of plastic toxicity in our bodies.
As the simulator was presented to 91 children between 8 and 10 years old, I was
able to analyse the impact of the information of biomagnification on them. All the 91
children easily understood the subject of microplastic biomagnification in the food chain
and the effect on our bodies. 74 children still had questions to understand in more depth the
subject. This meaning that the simulator worked to encourage the children to investigate
and learn more about the topic. The way in which children tend to know about plastic
contamination and the way it affects the environment but have a lack of knowledge of the
way it affects our bodies as humans. Especially since we are at the top of the food chains,
the species that will end up consuming most plastic is ourselves. The children made many
comments such as how they were interested in the effects of the toxins in plastic towards
our bodies. For example, cancer and chronic pain, which will begin to happen as more
microplastics store in our bodies in future generations.
This was an important activity since the new generations must begin to be taught
about change and refusing plastic. Especially, since when they were asked about the 4 Rs
they knew the ones that school tends to teach us, (reuse, reduce, recycle). Yet, they forgot
the most important and difficult one, which is refuse, I asked them questions such as “what
do you do if in a restaurant they offer you a plastic straw?”, they would respond with “no
thank you”. Starting to generate a culture in which we say “no” is something very important
to decrease the number of plastics consumed and leading to a reduction in the amount of
microplastics starting to accumulate in the marine food chains.
20
In conclusion the data collected has been useful to understand biomagnification and
the way microplastics begin to accumulate throughout a food chain. The simulator was a
perfect way to represent the data in an interactive and graphic manner. This way, a sense of
emotional gain throughout the experiment was obtained, as consciousness was promoted
and increased the information younger generations had about this problem. In a formal
manner, a simulator was created which it is more about numbers, for adults to see too.
In the process of finding the exponential equation, the correlation coefficient was of
0,98, in other words, close to 100%. This meaning that the correlation of the data was
almost perfect. All of the data were collected from authentic scientific experiments that
many professionals have made the past few years. There is a range of error since each data
comes from different experiments, but they are professionally taken, meaning that they
have an important value in the moment of interpreting the data many have investigated.
There were limitations since it was not data collected by myself, but data collected by
others in a country I have never been to. Also, there was not such a broad amount of data
that I could find for the specific food chain chosen. Despite this, I did take into
consideration the range of error of the experiment was a factor and I was still able to
answer the research question.
The experiment was able to help evaluate my hypothesis, “Microplastic
contamination in the Indian Ocean will affect marine food chains creating a chain reaction
that by consequence causes humans to ingest these plastics through marine animals”.
Which is valid since it did create a chain reaction as when you go higher up the food chain
you find more microplastics as the data and simulations show.
21
References:
Andrew, C., Bethell, E. J., Emily, B. J., Cunningham, E. M., Eoghan, C. M., Arnott, G., &
Al, E. (2020, April 29). Microplastics disrupt hermit crab shell selection. Biology
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2020.0030.
Diana, Z. (2020, December 10). A dangerous taste for plastic in the ocean depths. New
https://www.newsecuritybeat.org/2020/12/dangerous-taste-plastic-ocean-depths/.
Li, Q., Feng, Z., Zhang, T., & Ma, C. (2020, January). Microplastics in the commercial
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338493888_Microplastics_in_the_comme
rcial_seaweed_nori.
OCEANA. (2021, November 7). Great Barracuda. Oceana. Retrieved December 12, 2021,
from https://oceana.org/marine-life/ocean-fishes/great-
barracuda#:~:text=2.,weigh%20more%20than%20100%20pounds.
22
Bibliography
Allott, A., & Mindorff, D. (2014). Biology: Oxford Ib Diploma Programme. Oxford
University Press.
Chang, L. W., Yamaguchi, S., & Dudley, A. W. (1974, June). Neurological changes in cats
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00687167?fbclid=IwAR2csDA69pqElC
AOgT7lLjDke6oJUJvy8eXPeC0LrwGynBBwI0bOHkXumTc.
Coalition, plastic pollution. (2019). Why is plastic harmful? Retrieved December 12, 2021,
from https://plasticpollutioncoalition.zendesk.com/hc/en-us.
from
https://wasserdreinull.de/en/microplastics/?gclid=Cj0KCQjww4OMBhCUARIsAIL
ndv4On.d.EHBIzUI4Bji4OgBV0wCCAj1cJaW8-
rLISpqtdlR5uBs70gFAaAs8_EALw_wcB.
DTE, S. (2019, May 17). Indian Ocean island group chokes on 238 tonnes of plastic waste.
https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/waste/indian-ocean-island-group-chokes-on-
238-tonnes-of-plastic-waste-64601.
https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Sphyraena_barracuda/.
23
Johnston, I. (2017, July 26). Plastic microparticles found in flesh of fish eaten by humans.
https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/plastic-microparticles-fish-
flesh-eaten-humans-food-chain-mackerel-anchovy-mullet-a7860726.html.
https://app.kognity.com/study/app/biology-sl-fe-2016/ecology-core/spec-comm-
ecosyst-core/the-big-picture.
Li, D. (2020, September 23). Profiling the vertical transport of microplastics in the West
Pacific Ocean and the East Indian Ocean with a novel in situ filtration technique.
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.0c02374.
Nordqvist, C. (2012, September 21). Too much tuna can cause mercury poisoning in
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/250554
Setala, O., Lehtiniemi, M., Coppock, R., & Cole, M. (2018, January). (PDF) (pg.339-363)
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325376143_Microplastics_in_Marine_Fo
od_Webs.
Safe, M. (2017, May 5). How to avoid toxic chemicals in plastics. MADE SAFE. Retrieved
plastics/.
24
Seth, C. K., & Shriwastav, A. (2018, August 25). Contamination of Indian sea salts with
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11356-018-3028-5.
25
Figures (references)
Pinterest, https://co.pinterest.com/pin/614741417887017671/
Figure 2: Macron, M. (2022). Seaweed in the Indian Ocean, [JFIF] Telle Report,
https://www.tellerreport.com/life/2021-12-14-in-pictures--emmanuel-macron-and-viktor-
orban--presidential-campaign-2022--and-tornadoes-in-the-united-states.Byx4ux7U5Y.html
https://id.quora.com/Apa-yang-dimaksud-dengan-carcinisation
Figure 4: Dark, J. (2019). Brief Information About Fish, [JFIF] Interesting Information,
http://interesting-information.ru/2019/01/kratkaya-informaciya-o-rybax
https://killermovies.vhx.tv/vhs/videos/barracuda
Figure 6: Vexels. (2014). Human Body Systems Illustration Set [JFIF] Vexels,
https://www.vexels.com/vectors/preview/224464/human-body-systems-illustration-set
Figure 7-18:
https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/aerial-view-of-mauritius-island-gm864510358-
143404433
http://marinebiotech.eu/sites/marinebiotech.eu/files/public/1-07%20Johan%20Robbens.pdf
https://phicklephilly.com/tag/neighborhood/
26
barks as she guards her clutch of eggs, laid beneath her host anemone [JFIF] Alamy,
https://www.alamy.com/saddleback-anemonefish-amphiprion-polymnus-female-barks-as-
she-guards-her-clutch-of-eggs-laid-beneath-her-host-anemone-anilao-batangas-luzon-ph-
image357438282.html?pv=1&stamp=2&imageid=A406934D-1D1D-4A5F-B6F7-
2A1AB6BE7C08&p=477095&n=0&orientation=0&pn=1&searchtype=0&IsFromSearch=1
&srch=foo%3dbar%26st%3d0%26pn%3d1%26ps%3d100%26sortby%3d2%26resultview
%3dsortbyPopular%26npgs%3d0%26qt%3dclown%2520fish%2520eggs%26qt_raw%3dcl
own%2520fish%2520eggs%26lic%3d3%26mr%3d0%26pr%3d0%26ot%3d0%26creative
%3d%26ag%3d0%26hc%3d0%26pc%3d%26blackwhite%3d%26cutout%3d%26tbar%3d1
%26et%3d0x000000000000000000000%26vp%3d0%26loc%3d0%26imgt%3d0%26dtfr%
3d%26dtto%3d%26size%3d0xFF%26archive%3d1%26groupid%3d%26pseudoid%3d%26
a%3d%26cdid%3d%26cdsrt%3d%26name%3d%26qn%3d%26apalib%3d%26apalic%3d%
26lightbox%3d%26gname%3d%26gtype%3d%26xstx%3d0%26simid%3d%26saveQry%3
d%26editorial%3d1%26nu%3d%26t%3d%26edoptin%3d%26customgeoip%3d%26cap%3
d1%26cbstore%3d1%26vd%3d0%26lb%3d%26fi%3d2%26edrf%3d%26ispremium%3d1
%26flip%3d0%26pl%3d
Museum, https://australian.museum/learn/animals/fishes/great-barracuda-sphyraena-
barracuda/
Time, D. (2019). Sick kid that has stomach-ache [jpg] Dreams Time,
https://de.dreamstime.com/stock-abbildung-kranker-junge-der-magenschmerzen-hat-
image66686419
27
https://www.teleambiente.it/plastica_nuova_piattaforma_misura_effetti_microplastiche_svi
luppo_bambini/
https://www.ecured.cu/Tri%C3%A1ngulo_de_coral
Appendix
Appendix A: Simulator: https://marvelapp.com/prototype/8e2a47g/screen/83129541