Seafood eaters ingest up to 11,000 tiny pieces of plastic every year with dozens of particles becoming embedded in tissues, scientists have warned, in findings described as 'sobering' by the Prince of Wales.

Researchers from the University of Ghent in Belgium believe that microplastics accumulate in the body over time and could be a long term health risk.

And they say the amount of plastic absorbed will only get worse as pollution in the oceans increases, a finding described by the Prince of Wales as ‘sobering.’ The Prince has previously described micro-particles as 'grey goo.'

Dr Colin Janssen, who led the research, said the presence of plastic particles in the body was ‘a concern’.

"Now we've established that they do enter our body and can stay there for quite a while, we do need to know the fate of the plastics,” he told Sky News to coincide with the launch of Sky’s new environmental campaign Sky Ocean Rescue.

“Where do they go? Are they encapsulated by tissue and forgotten about by the body, or are they causing inflammation or doing other things?

“Are chemicals leaching out of these plastics and then causing toxicity? We don't know and actually we do need to know.”