Researchers find microplastics in the tails of lobsters caught off Nova Scotia

Amber LeBlanc, a recent Master’s graduate at Dalhousie University holds a box of live lobsters in this undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout - Daniel Saunders (Mandatory Credit)

HALIFAX — The lead researcher of a new study assessing microplastics in lobsters says the research can serve as a warning that plastic pollution is landing on people’s dinner plates.

The study, published in the scientific journal Regional Studies in Marine Science, confirmed the presence of microplastics in the tails of lobsters caught off the coast of Nova Scotia.

Co-author Amber LeBlanc, a researcher at Dalhousie University in Halifax, said she and her colleagues found a variety of microplastics in edible meat pulled from all of the lobsters they studied.

In an interview Wednesday, she said the findings are raising questions about the future of the lucrative industry and the long-term impact on human health.

“It’s not just that the plastic pollution crisis is outside and removed from us,” said LeBlanc, an environmental scientist who grew up in Nova Scotia. “It seems like it’s moving from the ocean floor to our dinner plates. That adds a whole new layer of urgency.”

The researchers determined the plastics primarily came from polyester clothing, industrial adhesives and marine-grade plastics. The most abundant polymers identified were polyethylene vinyl acetate (25 per cent), polyester (25 per cent), and polysulfone (19 per cent).

According to Environment Canada, of the almost five million tonnes of plastic waste that was thrown away in Canada in 2021, only seven per cent was recycled. The rest ended up in landfills or as litter in the environment.

While plastic can be broken down to microscopic levels, it never completely dissolves and can also get into soil and water supplies.

LeBlanc said the Nova Scotia study is a call to action for more research to determine how microplastics are affecting lobsters and the people who eat them.

“Given the widespread global consumption of lobster by humans, it becomes imperative to understand the extent of (microplastic) contamination in lobster muscle tissue to evaluate potential human health risks,” the study says.

The study points to previous research showing the ingestion of microplastics -- often referred to as MPs -- increases mortality rates among other crustaceans including marine crabs, as well as causing inflammation and cellular damage in shrimp.

“Lobster species could therefore face heightened mortality risk from MPs due to compromised nutrient uptake, reduced oxygen consumption and a general decline in body mass,” the study says, citing other research.

“The impact of this contamination in lobsters extends beyond the species, as (it) could affect the economics of commercial fishing industries that rely on healthy stocks.”

In 2023, commercial fishers in Nova Scotia landed more than $821 million worth of lobsters, according to the federal Fisheries and Oceans Department, making the business by far the most lucrative part of the $1.3 billion worth of seafood landed by the province’s entire industry that year. The province accounts for almost half of all of lobster caught in Eastern Canada.

As for human health, other studies have detected MPs in human tissues, raising concerns about the potential for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, infertility, premature births and various cancers.

“We need further research to really understand the consequences of this,” LeBlanc said in an interview, adding that the study points to the need to improve the management of plastic waste.

Other studies have already confirmed the presence of MPs in mussels, clams and oysters. But there hasn’t been much research on the lobsters that prowl the depths off Canada’s East Coast, she said.

The new study says researchers carefully selected 16 lobsters from retail outlets in Nova Scotia. The lobsters came from four commercial fishing areas and represented different sizes and sexes.

In the lab, a special dye called Nile red was used to make the MPs glow under a microscope. An advanced technique called Raman Spectroscopy was used to identify each particle’s chemical signature.

On average, the researchers found six to seven microplastic particles in each gram of meat. The average size of each microplastic was 3.65 micrometers -- about 30 times thinner than the width of a human hair.

Microplastics, which can range in size from five millimeters down to a microscopic one micron, come from many sources including industrial coatings and plastic products that have broken down in the environment.

“We’re producing more and more and more of it without actually understanding what it is exactly,” LeBlanc said. “There’s thousands of different chemical compositions and we don’t know what the effects are.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2025.

By Michael MacDonald