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4 Ecosystems

4.4 Bioaccumulation
Exercise 4.4A Microplastics
In this exercise, you will learn about microplastics. You can try nding
information in a bar chart. You will also think about bioaccumulation.

Focus
Microplastics are tiny pieces of plastic less than long.
Some microplastics come from big pieces of plastic that people have
thrown away, and that slowly break apart. Some microplastics come from
healthcare and beauty products such as toothpastes and face creams.
In the sea, microplastics can oat in the water. They are accidentally
taken into the bodies of living organisms when they feed. Some of the
denser microplastics slowly fall to the sea bed.
1 What are microplastics?

2 Explain where microplastics come from.

3 Explain why some microplastics end up in the mud at the bottom

of the sea.

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 We are working with Cambridge Assessment International Education towards endorsement of this title.

4.4 Bioaccumulation

Practice
The graph shows the quantities of microplastics found in the mud at the
bottom of the sea in four years between 1996 and 2008.

160

140

120

100
mean number of
microplastic particles 80
in kg of mud
60

40

20

0
1996 2000 2004 2008
Time in years

4 Look at the graph.

a State the mean mass of microplastics found in 1 kg of mud
in 1996.

b Calculate the increase in the mass of microplastics in 1 kg of

mud between 1996 and 2008.
Show your working.

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Original material © Cambridge University Press 2021. This material is not final and is subject to further changes prior
 We are working with Cambridge Assessment International Education towards endorsement of this title.

4 Ecosystems

5 Zooplankton are tiny oating organisms that live in the sea. Some
sh feed by sucking in sea water and ltering out the zooplankton.
Explain why these sh may end up with microplastics in their
bodies.

Challenge
6 Microplastics cannot be broken down by living things.
They show bioaccumulation.
Explain what is meant by bioaccumulation.

7 Seals eat sh. Explain why the concentration of microplastics

in a seal’s body may be greater than the concentration in a
sh’s body.

84
Original material © Cambridge University Press 2021. This material is not final and is subject to further changes prior to publication.