More research into the sources and risks to human health of microplastics is needed, scientists say.
Marine researchers say seafood has been unfairly singled out as a major source of human exposure to microplastics and are concerned people are eating less of it as a result.
Analysis by Australian scientists found seafood has received "disproportionate attention" in research and coverage around microplastics, creating a "misconception" that eating fish is the biggest risk.
They say more research is needed into microplastics to better understand the sources and risks to human health, with microplastics found in many other foods, dust and soil -- not just seafood.
University of Adelaide marine scientist Nina Wootton said while microplastics were found in seafood, the sector did not deserve a reputation as the main source of human exposure.
"A lot of my research has looked at microplastics in seafood and we find that there is a fair bit of microplastic coming up in seafood, but this new study is showing that it's not always fair that it gets such a bad reputation in the media, when there is microplastic unfortunately in everything," Dr Wootton said.
She said the volume of microplastics being found in seafood was comparable to other foods such as salt, honey and chicken -- but significantly less than exposure from bottled water and indoor dust.
Seafood reputation problem
Dr Wootton was part of a team of international researchers who reviewed scientific and media coverage of microplastics to find out "why seafood might get a bit of a bad reputation".
It found 70 per cent of research on microplastics in food focused on seafood, rather than other sources such as alcohol, indoor air, drinking water and other meat.
She said that was partially due to the ease of testing and concerns around marine pollution.
"Seafood was one of the first foods that we started to test for microplastics really regularly, I guess because the marine environment gets this reputation as the sinkhole for a lot of plastic pollution," Dr Wootton said.
More research needed
Dr Wootton said there was limited research into the human health impacts of microplastics, and more was needed.
"We know they're finding microplastics in different human organs -- but what we don't know is, if that's even doing anything," she said.
Dr Wootton encouraged people to source their seafood locally, with the industry battling multiple challenges.
"The alarmist headlines you see around some of this work are not benefiting anyone," she said.
"I know down here in South Australia we have the large (algae) bloom happening, which is already making seafood consumers nervous.
"It's the same with the microplastics. If you love seafood, try to shop locally because our seafood in Australia has much, much less than what is found in overseas samples commonly."
Coverage hurts sales
Seafood Industry SA CEO Kyri Toumazos believed coverage around microplastics had put some people off seafood, and it was another challenge for the industry to overcome.
"I definitely think that whenever there is a health criteria put out there that is not supportive of a product, it does impact people's perceptions, but overall I am very confident also that people clearly understand that seafood is the healthiest form of protein they can consume," Mr Toumazos said.
"If you are concerned about microplastics -- which we all are -- seafood shouldn't be your priority place to look."