Recorded micro-plastic concentrations are found in the Arctic

Recorded micro-plastic levels were found trapped in sea ice floating in the Arctic.

Ice cores concentrated throughout the Arctic Sea show that the micro-plastic concentrations are two to three times higher than the levels previously recorded.

German scientists say that when sea ice melts due to climate change, plastics will be released back to the water, causing unknown impacts on wildlife.

Traces of 17 different types of plastic were found in frozen seawater.

Their 'plastic fingerprints' show that they are brought by ocean currents from the huge landfill in the Atlantic or appear in the local area due to pollution from water transport and fishing.

Ilka Peeken from Alfred Wegener Institute, Arctic Research Center and Helmholtz Ocean in Bremerhaven, Germany, the head of the study said that more than half of micro plastic particles in the ice are so small that they can easily be Sea animals eat right. She said: "No one can say for sure how these micro-plastic particles will harm the ocean life, or ultimately affect people."

Smaller than human hair

Ice cores were collected from five regions across the Arctic Ocean in the spring of 2014 and the summer of 2015. They were brought back to the lab, to analyze their unique plastic 'fingerprints' .

The co-researcher Gunnar Gerdts, also from the Alfred Wegener Institute, said: 'By using this method, we have also discovered plastic particles with a diameter of only 11 microns. Approximately 1/6 times the diameter of a human hair, and also why we found a concentration of more than 12,000 plastic beads per liter of sea ice - two to three times higher than the previous measurement ' .

Ice cores were collected during the German Polarstern's expeditions - (Photo from Alfred Wegener / M.Fernandez Research Institute).

The researchers found a total of 17 different types of plastic in sea ice, including packaging materials such as polyethylene and polypropylene, in addition to paint, nylon, polyester, and cellulose acetate (used to make a cigar filter).

They said the plastic originated from a huge landfill in the Atlantic Ocean or painted ships and fishing nets.

According to Dr. Peeken: 'These findings suggest that both fishing and shipping in the Arctic are leaving behind consequences. High micro-plastic concentrations in sea ice cannot be attributed only to sources outside the Arctic Ocean. Instead, they also point to local pollution in the Arctic. '

Melting ice

Research confirms that sea ice holds large amounts of micro-plastic and transports them across the Arctic Ocean. Plastic particles will be released back to the ocean when the sea ice melts.

Dr. Pennie Lindeque, the lead scientist of plastics at Plymouth Marine Laboratory, who did not join the research team, said: 'Since climate change will accelerate the melting of sea ice, there will be many. more plastic microbes are released from sea ice and entered the marine environment '.

Ice cores are analyzed for plastic traces - (Photo from Alfred Wegener / T.Vankann Research Institute).

Dr. Jeremy Wilkinson, a sea ice physicist from the British Antarctic Survey, says the article published in Nature Communications is a 'standard study'. He said: 'Plastic micro particles have been found in all ice cores. It shows that micro-plastic has abundance in the surface water layer of the world's oceans. No place is immune. '

And Dr. Jason Holt of the National Oceanographic Center says we can predict plastic waste from several European countries will eventually reach the Arctic, based on ocean circulation patterns.'It is important to understand the transport and fate of plastic waste in the Arctic and its impact on the marine environment here, and what we can do to minimize this impact.'

Plastic microphones are tiny pieces of plastic with a length of less than five millimeters. They can be eaten by filter animals and transmitted to the food chain.

A significant amount of micro-plastic is released directly into the ocean due to larger pieces of plastic gradually breaking down. But micro-plastics can also enter the sea from health products and cosmetics, washing synthetic textiles or tire abrasion.

It is estimated that about eight million tons of plastic from the mainland flow into the ocean each year, and some arrive