🌊 It's huge: 27 million tons of plastics dumped into the North Atlantic

The Atlantic Ocean, seemingly vast and blue, hides an invisible pollution: billions of nanoplastics, too small to be seen with the naked eye, silently floating within it. A recent study reveals that this pollution is far more extensive than previously thought.


Dutch researchers have discovered that approximately 27 million tons of nanoplastics are polluting the North Atlantic. These findings, published in the journal Nature, show that this pollution is much more massive than previously estimated.

The scientists used a new analysis method: a student collected water samples aboard a research vessel, which were then analyzed in a laboratory. Using highly sensitive techniques, they were able to accurately measure the quantity of nanoplastics present.

These particles mainly come from the breakdown of larger plastic waste or are carried by rivers, wind, or rain. Their small size allows them to go unnoticed, but their effects on marine life could be severe.

These particles can be ingested by plankton, fish, and other marine animals, moving up the entire food chain to humans. Scientists are concerned about their health effects, even though not everything is yet understood.

They plan to continue research to better understand which types of plastics are present, where they accumulate, and what their impacts are on marine ecosystems.