Microplastics and Marine Pollution
Research Lead – Dr Alice Horton
Our group is researching how ocean pollutants, especially microplastics (1 µm – 5 mm) and persistent chemicals, will interact to have long-term biological and ecological consequences, alongside wider climate stressors.
Microplastic pollution is a globally widespread concern, infiltrating all parts of the environment and ecosystems, and causing a wide range of negative effects to organisms. However, microplastics do not exist as a pollutant in isolation and represent just one component of a complex multi-stress system. Our research considers microplastics not only as a single contaminant, but as diverse materials in their own right, interacting with wider chemical and environmental stressors.
We employ a range of experimental, analytical and molecular techniques to understand exposure, fate and organism responses to combined stressors (multistressors). Our research focusses primarily on invertebrate species at the base of the food web, to understand the effects of ocean contaminants on these key organisms in the context of global environmental change.
Our Research Impacts
Microplastics interact with wider stressors
Stressors such as chemical pollution and increased temperatures can interact with microplastics, changing the hazard they pose. Understanding the long-term implications of these complex multistressors will be vital for identifying the key risks and solutions in this space. Our work will provide evidence to inform policy, industry and wider society.
Future predictions of risk
Different species will be differently susceptible to harm from pollution depending on their characteristics and the part of the environment they inhabit. Therefore, the effects can be difficult to predict. Our research will enable a better understanding of the risks posed by microplastics and multistressors, how different species will be affected, and ultimately enabling future predictions of harm.
Key Publications
Our Team
Dr Alice Horton
UKRI Futures Leaders Fellow and Senior Research Fellow
Dr Alice Horton
UKRI Futures Leaders Fellow and Senior Research Fellow
I am a UKRI Future Leaders Fellow and Senior Research Fellow here at the MBA. My expertise lies in microplastic pollution in aquatic ecosystems. My current research focusses on how microplastics will interact with wider environmental stressors (multistressors; including chemical contamination and climate change) to affect marine ecosystems, now and into the future.
I began my research on microplastics in 2014 at the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology where I studied abundance and ecotoxicity of microplastics in freshwater and terrestrial systems. After gaining my PhD from Leiden University (Netherlands), I moved to the National Oceanography Centre to investigate the flows of microplastics from rivers to the sea, and their interactions with estuarine and marine organisms. I started my fellowship at the MBA in 2025.
