Study: Millions of tons of microplastic in the Atlantic

7000 microplastic particles in one cubic meter of seawater - that is the terrifying result of a new study. And in the USA alone, each of the 330 million inhabitants produces 340 grams of plastic waste every day.

New York (AP) - According to a new study, there are millions of tons of microplastics in the Atlantic. In the upper water layers of the first 200 meters alone, there are approximately 12 to 21 million tons of waste. 

This comes to the conclusion that measurements were taken by researchers at the National Oceanography Center (NOC) in Great Britain and published in the journal Nature Communications.

So far, due to a lack of microplastic measurements, scientists have not been able to compare the assumed amount of plastic that has entered the ocean with that in the water, said study director Katsiaryna Pabortsava. "Our research is the first to have done this across the entire Atlantic from the UK to the Falkland Islands."

The NOC researchers calculated the frequency of three different types of plastic, which together accounted for more than half of the world's plastic waste. To do this, they took samples from a total of 12 locations from three different depths within the first 200 meters below the water surface. They found up to 7000 microplastic particles with a size of at least 0.0032 centimeters per cubic meter of seawater.

With their findings, the scientists want to lay the foundation for a better assessment of the ecological damage caused by microplastics. So far, there has been a lack of solid estimates of the amount of plastic, especially in remote locations such as the middle of the ocean. Research is concerned with the health impact of ubiquitous microplastics on living things. Such tiny particles have already been detected in snow, food and drinking water, among other things.

In the USA alone, each of the around 330 million inhabitants causes around 340 grams of plastic waste every day, according to a study published a few months ago. This partially ends up in nature and slowly breaks down into smaller and smaller components. The microplastic particles get into rivers and lakes, the sea, the soil and also the atmosphere. Some of the particles entered the atmosphere, for example when it rained - they were so small that they were even transported across continents.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 200819-99-221744 / 2

Article in "Nature Communications"