The microscopic shards of plastic found in every corner of the planet may be exacerbating antibiotic resistance, a new study has found. Bacteria exposed to these ubiquitous fragments, known as “microplastics,

"This challenges the notion that microplastics are merely passive carriers of resistant bacteria and highlights their role as active hotspots for antimicrobial resistance evolution," lead study author Neila Gross, a Boston University PhD candidate, said in a press release from the American Society for Microbiology.

Microplastics—tiny shards of plastic debris—are all over the planet. They have made their way up food chains, accumulated in oceans, clustered in clouds and on mountains, and been found inside human bodies at alarming rates.