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We estimate up to 14 million tonnes of microplastics lie on the seafloor. It’s worse than we thought
2020
Britta Denise Hardesty,
Wilcox Chris,
Justine Barrett
Summary
Deep-sea sediment sampling estimates up to 14 million tonnes of microplastics have accumulated on the ocean floor, roughly 35 times the estimated weight of plastic floating on the ocean surface. This finding fundamentally changes the understanding of where plastic pollution resides and suggests the long-term ecological burden on marine ecosystems is far greater than surface measurements have indicated.
This is up to 35 times more than the estimated weight of plastic pollution on the ocean’s surface.