Even giant anteaters in remote Brazil have microplastics in their blood

Giant anteaters traipsing across Brazil's pristine wetlands and savannas have ingested traces of plastic pollutants. Credit: Sylvain Cordier/Gamma-Rapho via Getty

Some of Brazil’s wildlife have traces of plastic circulating in their blood — even if they live far from land used by humans, according to an analysis published on 11 November in Nature1.

Researchers measured the concentration of microplastics in the blood of 47 animals: 26 lowland tapirs (Tapirus terrestris) and 21 giant anteaters (Myrmecophaga tridactyla). The scientists found that, on average, the creatures carry similar levels of plastic to many humans — roughly 74 particles per millilitre of blood. The animals that lived closest to human infrastructure and waste-management facilities had the highest levels of microplastics in their blood.

But even those living more than 100 kilometres from a waste sites and 65 kilometres from human infrastructure showed traces of the pollutants. This indicates that plastics can reach wildlife living far from where the pollution originates, says study co-author Marcia de Almeida Monteiro Melo Ferraz, a conservation scientist at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan in Kelowna, Canada.

The findings are an important step to better understand how the particles impact wildlife, says Sofia Ya-Hsuan Liou, a geochemist at the National Taiwan University in Taipei.

Pervasive pollution

Microplastics are tiny particles (smaller than five millimetres) with many different chemical compositions. They can travel through the environment in rainwater, rivers and the atmosphere. Although several studies have measured microplastics in wildlife, few have explored how the surrounding environment influences what animals ingest, says study co-author Michael Noonan, a quantitative ecologist at the University of British Columbia Okanagan.

To find out, Noonan, Ferraz and their colleagues collected and analysed blood samples from animals living across the Amazon rainforest, the Cerrado savanna and the huge and pristine Pantanal wetland between February 2021 and November 2022. The researchers also used GPS data to track the animals’ movements and their exposure to human footprint.

Enjoying our latest content? Log in or create an account to continue

• Access the most recent journalism from Nature's award-winning team

• Explore the latest features & opinion covering groundbreaking research

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-03660-5

References

• Ferraz, M. A. M. M. et al. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-11285-x (2026).PubMed Google Scholar

Ferraz, M. A. M. M. et al. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-11285-x (2026).

PubMed Google Scholar

Download references

Reprints and permissions

Related Articles

• Are microplastics bad for your health? More rigorous science is needed

• Your brain is full of microplastics: are they harming you?

• Microplastics are everywhere — but are they harmful?

• Read the paper: Land-use change undermines the stability of avian functional diversity

• Read the paper: Climate–land-use interactions shape tropical mountain biodiversity and ecosystem functions

Subjects

• Sustainability

Latest on:

• Sustainability

• Getting a grasp on the global wildlife trade News & Views 11 NOV 26

Getting a grasp on the global wildlife trade

News & Views 11 NOV 26

• Severe drought and warming increase the extinction risk of cacti Article 11 NOV 26

Severe drought and warming increase the extinction risk of cacti

Article 11 NOV 26

• Human land use drives microplastic abundance in terrestrial wildlife Article 11 NOV 26

Human land use drives microplastic abundance in terrestrial wildlife

Article 11 NOV 26

• Efficient catalyst-controlled C–H arylation of arenes Article 11 NOV 26

Efficient catalyst-controlled C–H arylation of arenes

Article 11 NOV 26

• AI’s energy paradox: will the AI boom strain energy systems or be the source of solutions? Spotlight 11 NOV 26

AI’s energy paradox: will the AI boom strain energy systems or be the source of solutions?

Spotlight 11 NOV 26

• A guide to Nature Index tables Spotlight 11 NOV 26

A guide to Nature Index tables

Spotlight 11 NOV 26

• AI’s energy paradox: will the AI boom strain energy systems or be the source of solutions? Spotlight 11 NOV 26

AI’s energy paradox: will the AI boom strain energy systems or be the source of solutions?

Spotlight 11 NOV 26

• Engineered bacteria are weaning farms away from synthetic fertilizers News 11 NOV 26

Engineered bacteria are weaning farms away from synthetic fertilizers

News 11 NOV 26

• How microbes can secure the critical minerals the world needs Comment 10 NOV 26

How microbes can secure the critical minerals the world needs

Comment 10 NOV 26

Jobs

• Associate or Senior Editor, Communications AI & Computing Job Title: Associate or Senior Editor, Communications AI & Computing Locations: Shanghai, Beijing, Pune, New Delhi, Berlin or Madrid (hybrid) Appli... Shanghai, Beijing, Pune, New Delhi, Berlin or Madrid (hybrid) Springer Nature Ltd

Associate or Senior Editor, Communications AI & Computing

Job Title: Associate or Senior Editor, Communications AI & Computing Locations: Shanghai, Beijing, Pune, New Delhi, Berlin or Madrid (hybrid) Appli...

Shanghai, Beijing, Pune, New Delhi, Berlin or Madrid (hybrid)

Springer Nature Ltd

• Postdoctoral Fellow Postdoctoral Fellow focus on ferroic smart materials: shape-memory alloys, piezoelectric ceramics, and magnetostrictive materials, etc Ningbo, Zhejiang (CN) Center for Advanced Smart Materials (CASM), Yongjiang Laboratory (Y-Lab)

Postdoctoral Fellow

Postdoctoral Fellow focus on ferroic smart materials: shape-memory alloys, piezoelectric ceramics, and magnetostrictive materials, etc

Ningbo, Zhejiang (CN)

Center for Advanced Smart Materials (CASM), Yongjiang Laboratory (Y-Lab)

• Principal Investigator/ Associate Professor PI & Associate Professor class focus on innovative research about ferroic smart materials or technology transfer Ningbo, Zhejiang (CN) Center for Advanced Smart Materials (CASM), Yongjiang Laboratory (Y-Lab)

Principal Investigator/ Associate Professor

PI & Associate Professor class focus on innovative research about ferroic smart materials or technology transfer

Ningbo, Zhejiang (CN)

Center for Advanced Smart Materials (CASM), Yongjiang Laboratory (Y-Lab)

• Open-Rank Faculty Position in Basic Biomedical Research WashU Medicine’s Dept of Anesthesiology seeks applicants for a tenure-track or tenured faculty position in the Division of Basic Research. Saint Louis, Missouri WashU Medicine - Anesthesiology

Open-Rank Faculty Position in Basic Biomedical Research

WashU Medicine’s Dept of Anesthesiology seeks applicants for a tenure-track or tenured faculty position in the Division of Basic Research.

Saint Louis, Missouri

WashU Medicine - Anesthesiology

• Global Recruitment of Outstanding Young Talents We are seeking exceptional candidates who qualify for the National Science Fund for Excellent Young Scholars (Overseas) 1068 Xueyuan Avenue, Shenzhen 518055 P. R. China Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology (SIAT), Chinese Academy of Sciences（CAS)

Global Recruitment of Outstanding Young Talents

We are seeking exceptional candidates who qualify for the National Science Fund for Excellent Young Scholars (Overseas)

1068 Xueyuan Avenue, Shenzhen 518055 P. R. China

Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology (SIAT), Chinese Academy of Sciences（CAS)