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  • Optional@lemmy.worldOPtoNews@lemmy.world•The oceans may contain much, much more plastic than previously thought
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    2 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.”