A new study finds there are 27 million metric tons of invisible plastic particles in the North Atlantic alone.

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/24559804

A new study finds there are 27 million metric tons of invisible plastic particles in the North Atlantic alone.

In the oceans, the most widespread type of plastic pollution may be the kind you can’t see.

A new study published Wednesday in the journal Nature estimates that the North Atlantic Ocean alone contains 27 million metric tons of nanoplastic — plastic particles 100 times smaller than the width of a human hair. That figure is 10 times higher than previous estimates of plastic pollution of all sizes across all the world’s oceans, according to the study’s authors.

Microplastics range in width between 0.001 millimeters and 5 millimeters, making them up to 5 million times bigger than nanoplastics.

  • Optional@lemmy.worldOP
    81·
    6 hours ago

    Wagner cautioned that the study’s major extrapolation — that there are 27 million metric tons of nanoplastic in the North Atlantic, more than the weight of 26,000 Eiffel towers — relies on “very few samples.” Still, Wagner said it makes sense that there would be an exorbitant amount of nanoplastic given the high volume of larger plastic fragments that end up in the oceans each year. According to the United Nations, roughly 20 million tons of plastic enter aquatic ecosystems each year. This includes lakes, rivers, and streams, as well as oceans, but for much of that pollution, the ocean is the final destination.

    “We’ve basically been dumping plastic in the ocean for decades,” Woodruff said. “It doesn’t go away, it just breaks down into smaller plastics, so it does make sense that you would find more nanoplastics than macro and microplastics.”