Plastic pollution could linger on ocean surfaces for over 100 years, researchers warn
Some 170 trillion pieces of plastic floating on planet’s oceans
- A new assessment by Queen Mary University of London researchers indicates that plastic pollution in the oceans could take over a century to sink or disappear, even if all new pollution stopped immediately.
- Micro- and nanoplastics have been discovered in human arteries, brains, and sexual organs, with these fragments linked to health problems such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and changes in gut health.
- Most large, buoyant plastics degrade slowly at the surface, fragmenting into smaller particles over decades, but approximately 94 per cent of plastic eventually sinks and can persist for centuries, potentially eons, on the ocean floor.
- The researchers warn that this persistent plastic pollution could overwhelm the ocean's natural conveyor belt, a vital system responsible for transporting heat and nutrients around the world.
- The findings underscore plastic pollution as an intergenerational problem, necessitating mitigative strategies like reducing plastic production and improving the tracking of its sources.