Atlantic Ocean swamped by plastic -------------------------------------- There is at least 10 times more plastic in the Atlantic Ocean than previously thought, according to a study led by the UK’s National Oceanography Centre -------------------------------------- Previous estimates of amount of plastic entering Atlantic since 1950 17 million tonnes -------------------------------------- Mass of microplastic particles* in upper 200m of Atlantic found by new study 12-21 million tonnes -------------------------------------- 21 million tonnes would fully load almost 1,000 container ships -------------------------------------- Mass of three most common types of plastic in entire ocean (assuming concentration found in upper 200m is representative of rest of depth of Atlantic) 200 million tonnes (or 178 million tonnes more compared to previous estimates) -------------------------------------- Sample sites: Three most common types of plastic litter – polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP) and polystyrene (PS) – assessed at 12 locations in 2016 -------------------------------------- *Ranging from 32-651 microns in size (human hair is about 75 microns across). Study team found up to 7,000 particles per cubic metre of seawater -------------------------------------- Atlantic Ocean -------------------------------------- Sources: BBC, Nature Communications, Phys.org © GRAPHIC NEWS