Millions of tons of microplastics contaminate Atlantic waters

Awareness of ocean pollution began with images of more or less colored plastics floating on the surface of the water. Then scientists realized that these “macrodebris” were only a small part of the problem. The oceans are also affected by a much less spectacular attack: microplastics. This microscopic-sized debris is present everywhere, at concentrations that are not yet well known.

Read also: Offshore racing goes hunting for microplastics

During an oceanographic campaign between the United Kingdom and the Falkland Islands, two researchers from the Southampton Oceanographic Center did a tremendous job of estimating the amount of microplastics that could be present in the Atlantic. In Nature Communications , they estimate that, up to 200 meters below the surface, its waters contain 12 to 21 million tonnes of these polluting particles.

A "possible underestimation of the problem"

“It's much more than one would expect ,” explains Katsiaryna Pabortsava, co-author of the study. The

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