Microplastics Million Times More Abundant in Ocean Than Previously Thought

Nothing seems safe from plastic contamination. A new study by NSF-funded researchers at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography suggests there could be a million times more pieces of plastic in the oceans than previously estimated. Biological oceanographer Jennifer Brandon found some of the tiniest microplastics in seawater at much higher concentrations than previously measured. Her method showed that the traditional way of counting marine microplastics is likely missing the smallest particles, suggesting that the number of microplastics in the ocean is off by five to seven orders of magnitude.Brandon now estimates that the ocean is contaminated by 8.3 million pieces of mini-microplastics per cubic meter