Study finds Earth's largest flows can carry microplastics across dozens of
Researchers noted that annually in the oceansMore than 10 million tons of plastic are emitted. It is estimated that about 99% of them are located in deep-sea areas, often accumulating in underwater canyons. However, it was previously unknown how microplastics can enter the seas and oceans from land. New studies have shown in detail that microplastics can also move in streams after precipitation.
Microplastics not only destroy corals, but also change their genes and cells
Distribution of various types of plastic on the marinethe bottom is important because the size and type of plastic particles determines how toxins accumulate on the surface. In addition, it is now possible to calculate the probability of which animals can accumulate particles of this plastic in themselves and how this affects their body.
The next stages of research will include selectionsamples and monitoring of deep-sea underwater canyons. So scientists want to understand how their research can be applied to underwater natural systems and their impact on deep-sea ecosystems.
Previously, researchers were able to find out that plastic,released into the environment, breaks down into smaller and smaller fragments, called microplastics, if their dimensions are less than five millimeters. Microplastics are widespread in the environment and are ingested by animals at all levels of the food web, from the smallest organisms all the way up to apex predators, including humans. So it was discovered that from brewing one tea bag into the human bodygets intoup to 15 billion microplastic particles.