Microplastic pollution accumulates heavily in coastal areas such as fjords and estuaries

Shelf and deep sea environments have generally lower micropastic flux rates than coastal environments, but high rates may occur locally where bottom currents concentrate microplastic (e.g. on drift deposits, in submarine canyons and ocean trenches; Kane et al., 2020) or beneath locations of high particulate organic carbon flux driven by primary production (Tekman et al., 2020). Credit: Peter T. Harris

July 1, 2020

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Microplastic pollution in marine environments is concentrated most highly in coastal habitats, especially fjords and estuaries, according to a new review article published in the journal Marine Pollution Bulletin. Deep sea environments generally have much lower microplastic concentrations, although there are hotspots where elevated concentrations of microplastic occur. Each year humans produce 360 million tons of plastic, and according to one study, around 8 million tons of it enters the ocean.

Original Article