Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of microplastics entering the marine environment on (a) wild and (b) non-wild animal welfare.

We have not made any assessment of the effect of microplastics entering the marine environment on animal welfare. We have funded a study that demonstrated that microplastics can cause harm to marine animals by having an impact on their digestive systems and exposing them to chemicals. In addition we monitor levels of marine litter, including microplastics, both in the sea and along our coastlines to improve our understanding of the levels and impacts of marine litter.