Skip to content
The mass of ‘invisible’ microplastics found in the upper waters of the Atlantic Ocean is approximately 12- 21 million tonnes, according to research published in the journal Nature Communications.
Significantly, this figure is only for three of the most common types of plastic litter in a limited size range.
Yet it is comparable in magnitude to estimates of all plastic waste that has entered the Atlantic Ocean over the past 65 years: 17 million tonnes.
This suggests that the supply of plastic to the ocean has been substantially underestimated.
‘Microplastics have been found everywhere from the Arctic to the Mariana Trench, in our seafood and even the air we breathe. We know that particles of plastic are present in every ocean and every river that’s been tested, but we’re still drastically underestimating how much plastic is entering the environment.
‘Action from retailers and brands on cutting throwaway plastic still doesn’t come close to matching the scale and urgency of the problem. And the problem could be even bigger than we thought.
‘We know that vulnerable sharks like spiny dogfish and bull huss have been ingesting microplastics in the Atlantic, and countless other animals are also being caught, tangled and choked by our plastic waste.
‘Scientists have just determined how to identify plastic particles in human organs, which is a stark reminder that we don’t know how our plastic habits affect our own health. Nature has been sounding the alarm on plastic pollution for years. Supermarkets must completely eliminate pointless plastic and reduce all other plastic packaging by shifting to reuse and refill systems.’
NINA SCHRANK
Campaigner at Greenpeace
Pabortsava and Lampitt collected their seawater samples during the 26th Atlantic Meridional Transect expedition in September to November 2016.
They filtered large volumes of seawater at three selected depths in the top 200 metres and detected and identified plastic contaminants using state-of-the-art spectroscopic imaging technique.
‘If we assume that the concentration of microplastics we measured at around 200 metres deep is representative of that in the water mass to the seafloor below with an average depth of about 3,000 metres, then the Atlantic Ocean might hold about 200 million tonnes of plastic litter in this limited polymer type and size category. This is much more than is thought to have been supplied.
‘In order to determine the dangers of plastic contamination to the environment and to humans we need good estimates of the amount and characteristics of this material, how it enters the ocean, how it degrades and then how toxic it is at these concentrations.‘This paper demonstrates that scientists have had a totally inadequate understanding of even the simplest of these factors, how much is there, and it would seem our estimates of how much is dumped into the ocean has been massively underestimated.’
PROFESSOR RICHARD LAMPITT
Co-authorNational Oceanography Centre
The study focused on polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene, which are commercially most prominent and also most littered plastic types.
This study builds on the NOC’s cutting-edge research into marine plastic contamination, which aims to better understand the magnitude and persistence of exposure to plastics and the potential harms it can cause.
‘Previously, we couldn’t balance the mass of floating plastic we observed with the mass we thought had entered the ocean since 1950. This is because earlier studies hadn’t been measuring the concentrations of ‘invisible’ microplastic particles beneath the ocean surface. Our research is the first to have done this across the entire Atlantic, from the UK to the Falklands.’
DR KATSIARYNA PABORTSAV
Lead author, National Oceanography Centre
Loopholes and double standards: why mainstream cosmetics are still full of plastic, despite the ban on microbeads.
Surfers Against Sewage unites ocean activists for post-lockdown plastics protest.
Two peer-reviewed studies have found plastics in apples, carrots and lettuce.
Queen’s University research highlights impact of plastic pollution on marine life.
Subscribe to our newsletter
Weekly ethical news, offers, comps and a free digital mag (quarterly) – what’s not to love?
