Plastic pollution of the world’s oceans has been analyzed by Australian scientists and they have discovered that fine particles are found even in the most remote corners of civilization.
The authors of the report, published on Friday (around the plastic world in 455 days), collected 177 water samples on their 46,000-kilometre 177-day journey from the west coast of Australia, bypassing South America and back to the east coast of Australia. Australia.
Large-scale sampling has allowed accurate measurements of microfiber pollution in ocean-specific areas, said Klitty Grace, research leader and geochemist at Curtin University in Perth.
We wanted to get to places in the world’s oceans where plastic had not been sampled before, so that we could get a global picture of the distribution of plastic pollution.
Grace said.
In samples, pellets from car tires, pellets, textiles, building materials, cosmetics, and packaging have been found in nearly every area of the ocean.
Microplastics consist of plastic waste that is disposed of by decomposition.
A study by the Australian National Science Agency’s (CSIRO) Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimated that 22.8 million tons of microplastics pollute the world’s oceans, most of which lie on the ocean floor.
Microplastics endanger aquatic life in several ways: they poison fish, which swallow microparticles and get into food in concentrated quantities.
Cover image illustration. Source: Shutterstock
