via www.constantinealexander.net
Around four billion minute fibres could be littering each square kilometre of some of the world’s deep seas, demonstrating that plastic debris is now creating cause for concern in some of the remotest parts of the marine environment.
That is one of the findings of a pioneering international study examining the scale of the presence of microplastics at depths of up to 3500m in parts of the Indian and Atlantic Oceans, and the Mediterranean Sea.
Existing research had shown that in recent decades plastic debris has become almost omnipresent on the world’s coastlines, but the extent of its concentration close to shorelines had not increased in line with predictions based on the production and use of plastic.
However, the current study – led by scientists from Plymouth University and the Natural History Museum – indicates this may be because microplastics have sunk to the ocean floor, with the number of fibres recorded as being up to four times more abundant in the deep seas than in shallow and coastal waters.
In fact, the current study has led scientists to suggest – in areas of the Indian Ocean at least – that around 4 billion fibres per km² would be present in seamounts.
Read more: Minute Plastic Fibres Found in Abundance in the Deep Seas
The Latest on: Microplastics
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The Latest on: Microplastics
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An educational endeavor with the hopes of teaching the public about microplastics, this new project came about when ICARE members started to notice an uptick in the amount of plastic in and around ...
- Microplastics in the human body: What we know and don't knowon May 3, 2022 at 2:54 pm
While scientists have found microplastics deep in people's lungs and even bloodstreams, experts still say more research is needed to understand the health consequences. Few places on Earth — or ...
- Microplastics may be dragging faecal parasites from land into the season May 2, 2022 at 6:26 pm
Three disease-causing parasites found in cat and human faeces may be able to hitch-hike on microplastics to reach the sea, where they could potentially cause illness in marine life. We already ...
- Deadly pathogens can hitch a ride on ocean microplastics, study findson May 1, 2022 at 8:31 am
(CTV Network) -- A new study has found that microplastics can carry land-based parasites to the ocean, affecting both wildlife and human health. According to researchers out of the University of ...
- Yes, you're consuming microplastics — here's how much, and what we do (and don't) know about the risk to human healthon April 30, 2022 at 6:00 am
You've probably consumed microplastics without realizing it, according to recent human studies. The tiny particles shed from plastic waste can end up in the air, oceans, and human bodies. Scientists ...
- Companies might find microplastics cheap, but the environment is paying the priceon April 29, 2022 at 7:12 pm
Microplastics can be found nearly everywhere, including the ocean and the air we breathe. And, according to a recent research paper published in Environment International, microplastics have now also ...
- Studies find microplastics in human lungs, blood stream; scientists investigating possible health riskson April 29, 2022 at 5:23 pm
Scientists from the Netherlands and the U.K. recently identified microplastics deep in the lungs of some surgical patients and in the blood of anonymous donors. Researchers say that it's possible to ...
- Yes, You've Probably Ingested Microplastics. Now What?on April 29, 2022 at 1:35 pm
We just don't realize it because what's making their way into our bodies are microplastics, which are essentially very small fragments that originate from broken-down plastic in the ocean, synthetic ...
- Germs floating on microplastics in ocean end up in food, wateron April 29, 2022 at 12:22 pm
Land parasites that pose a risk to human and wildlife health can hitch rides on the millions of pounds of microplastics that float between oceans, a new study shows. "It's easy for people to dismiss ...
- Deadly pathogens can hitch a ride on ocean microplastics, raising alarm bellson April 28, 2022 at 2:02 am
Microplastics may provide a new way for deadly pathogens to concentrate near coastlines and travel deep into the sea.
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