04 May 2020 --- An international research team has discovered the highest levels of microplastic ever recorded on the seafloor. Up to 1.9 million pieces were identified in a thin layer covering one square meter of the Mediterranean Sea. The “shocking” findings indicate that the tiny particles – approximately the width of a human hair – are not uniformly distributed across the study area but distributed by powerful seafloor currents, which concentrate them in certain areas. Dr. Mike Clare of the National Oceanography Centre, who was a co-lead on the research, has called on policy interventions to limit the future flow of plastics into natural environments.
