Scientists have known for a long time that plastic is harmful to oceananimals. But a new British study shows that plastic may continue to do harmeven after it has broken into extremely small particles.
British scientists collected pieces of plastic on seventeen Britishbeaches as well as deep in the Atlantic Ocean. The pieces are so small they canonly be seen with a microscope. The scientists found that nine kinds of plasticwere common. These included nylon and polyester.
The researchers also examinedplankton, very small ocean animals and plants. These had been collected off theBritish coast during the past forty years. The scientists found particles ofplastic in the plankton. They found three times more plastic in plankton fromthe1990s than in plankton from the 1960s.
Professor Richard Thompson of the University of Plymouth led the study.Professor Thompson says his team will investigate how plastic affects theenvironment. For example, they want to learn if the plastic in plankton couldpoison fish and other sea life eaten by humans. The study appeared in themagazine Science.
A spokesman for the American Plastics Council says a lot of theinformation from the British study was old. But he says the group willre-examine it. He also says industry must educate people about theirresponsibility to keep all waste out of oceans.
Professor Thompson agrees that humans need to be more responsible.Plastic is a popular substance for containers and other objects partly becauseit is not easily destroyed. The professor estimates that plastic lasts from ahundred to a thousand years.
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