England (Commonwealth Union) – Microplastic pollution has been a serious environmental hazard often highlighted by environmental researchers. The overuse of plastics in just about every aspect of our lives has been the key contributor.
A new study has found the waters of the North Atlantic gyre have higher quantities of plastic, consisting of polymers arising from packaging, rope, and paint particles, than other areas of the open ocean. One of the planet’s 5 great oceanic gyres, manmade marine debris gets caught in a circular ocean current going from the east coasts of North America to the west coasts of Europe and Africa.
The study, published in Marine Pollution Bulletin, discovered the increased amounts of polyethylene, polypropylene, acrylic, and polyamide, whereas other offshore locations are linked further with PVC and polystyrene. Seawater near land, on the other hand, has much greater diversity in its polymer composition, where researchers indicated this may possibly be influenced by its closeness to a variety of plastics sources coming from land.
Researchers from the University of Plymouth, Mercator-Océan International, and eXXpedition, conducted the study with samples gathered when eXXpedition’s pioneering all-women Round the World sailing mission took place. The results are based on almost 30 samples gathered across the Atlantic Ocean, permitting researchers to evaluate variations in microplastic concentration and types within the upper ocean, from the surface and to a depth of 25 meters.
The objective of the study was to give more data of plastic levels in the region, as well as covering parts of the ocean where the available data was limited, like the eastern boundary of the North Atlantic gyre. “The remarkable discovery from our research was the huge diversity of polymer types, particularly in the inshore regions. It tells us that the pollution has come from many different sources – be it clothing, paint fragments or car tyres – and as a result means the solutions need to be diverse too,” said Dr Emily Penn, co-author of the study.
