Everywhere they look, Pacific Northwest scientists find teeny-tiny plastic pollution. Broken down particles are in our water, falling out of the air, in salmon, shellfish and in our own bodies. Scientists, environmental advocates and Democratic lawmakers in Salem and Olympia have seen enough to make them seek more regulations.

Professor Susanne Brander is a toxicologist at Oregon State University. Her lab at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport offers a window into the ubiquity of microscopic bits of plastic in the environment and what that does to animals and fish.