| Summary: | Microplastics (MPs) are considered emerging pollutants. Widely distributed in the environment from the equator to the poles, their presence in the marine environment has been reported, ranging from the water column surface to the bottom of the ocean trenches, also in freshwater ecosystems such as rivers, lakes and lagoons, mangrove areas. They have been found in soils, suspended in the air and inside around 700 animal species, endangering food security and the health of a wide variety of organisms including humans the solely responsible for its ubiquity. The presence of MPs in different ecosystems implies among others: the physical risk when ingested by different species along the trophic chain, from the microscopic plankton to giant mammals such as the blue whale. They cause obstructions along the digestive tract, ulcers, perforations, malnutrition, reproductive problems and even changes in behavior. In addition to their physical presence, the impacts of MPs on the marine environment also lies in their ability to act as transporters of pathogenic and / or invading microorganisms. MPs deposited on the seabed can also cause damage to benthic communities and block gas exchange. They can act as vectors for xenobiotics, including heavy metals and metalloids, organic pollutants and environmental steroids and are able to transport them to distant locations. Many of these chemicals can be added to the polymer during the manufacturing process and others can be sorbed during their residence time in the marine environment, with the potential risk of being transfer to biota. This complex mixture of chemicals can cause negative toxicological effects at trace levels concentrations. The main objective of this research, was to determine the chemical composition of primary (pellets) and secondary (fragments) MPs, their associated pollutants (metals) and their ecotoxicological potential. Samples were collected at the Colombian Caribbean, including the cities of Cartagena an industrialized city with the second largest oil ...
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