In recent years, concern about the presence of microplastic in food has grown due to their ubiquity in the environment and potential adverse effects on human health. This study investigated microplastic ingestion by wild Paracentrotus lividus, a sea urchin species of commercial value, and microplastic pollution within its natural habitat in the Aegean Sea, Greece. Microplastic particles were present in every sea urchin (1.95 ± 1.70 g${}^{-1}$ ww) and sediment sample (70 to 430 microplastics kg${}^{-1}$ dw). Moreover, microplastic concentrations in P. lividus were positively correlated to microplastic concentrations within sediment samples from the habitat. When ingesting plastic particles, P. lividus does not appear to discriminate between particle sizes, but between particle colours. The present results suggest that the consumption of P. lividus involves the uptake of microplastics. However, the overall content of microplastics in P. lividus appears to depend on the extent of microplastic pollution in its environment and on the characteristics of the particles present.

近年来，由于微塑料在环境中的普遍存在以及对人类健康的潜在不利影响，人们越来越担心食物中存在微塑料。这项研究调查了野生Paracentrotus lividus（一种具有商业价值的海胆物种）摄入的微塑料，以及希腊爱琴海自然栖息地内的微塑料污染。每只海胆中都含有微塑料颗粒（1.95 ± 1.70 g${}^{-1}$ ww) 和沉积物样品 (70 到 430 微塑料 kg${}^{-1}$dw)。此外，P. lividus中的微塑料浓度与栖息地沉积物样本中的微塑料浓度呈正相关。当摄入塑料颗粒时，青色假单胞菌似乎不区分颗粒大小，而是区分颗粒颜色。目前的结果表明，P. lividus的消费涉及微塑料的吸收。然而，P. lividus中微塑料的总体含量似乎取决于其环境中微塑料污染的程度以及存在的颗粒的特性。