They detected an “unprecedented increase” in the concentration of plastics in the oceans since 2005

The concentration of plastic in the oceans has experienced a “unprecedented increase” since 2005 until reaching an approximate current level of more than 2 million tonnes, according to a study published this Wednesday in the academic journal PLOS ONE.

“From 2005, there was a rapid and steady increase from the abundance of plastic. Based on our model, we estimate that in 2019 were floating (in the ocean) between 82 and 358 trillion particles (171 trillion on average) weighing between 1.1 and 4.9 million tonnes (2. 3 million on average). says the study.

The researchers, including scientists from the United States, Sweden, Chile and Australia, analyzed global data on the concentration of plastics on the surface of the seas from 1979 to 2019.

They noted that, from 1990 to 2005, the amounts of plastic varied without detecting a clear trend, which could be due to the “significant policies that were implemented during this period”, such as the ban on discarding plastics. ships included in the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (Marpol).

However, beginning in 2006, as global production increased and macroplastics already floating on the surface of the ocean began to break down into microplastics, the concentration of these types of compounds increased dramatically.

The researchers admit the limitations of global data collectionbut they argue that their findings are consistent with trends recorded at the beaches, where data is collected independently.

“The parallels strongly suggest that plastic pollution in the world’s oceans over the past 15 years has reached unprecedented levels,” they conclude, and call on politicians around the world to come together to adopt rules with specific targets. and which are not limited to the commercial sphere.

They also warn that without urgent and strong action to limit the amount of plastic that ends up in the water, the rate at which this material finds its way into the oceans could nearly triple by 2040.

Scientists from the UK and Australia have described for the first time a disease caused exclusively by the plastic intake. They call it plasticosis and they found it in a species of seabird, but this could be the tip of the iceberg: the disease could be more widespread and the possibility that it also affects seabirds is not excluded. Human being.

Scientists have described that people with plasticosis have scars in the digestive tract, that are generated after the ingestion of residues. This is the first recorded case of induced fibrosis specifically by plastic in wild animals, the researchers said.

The research results have been published in the journal Hazardous Materials Journal. According to the study, plastic pollution is increasingly common. The scars of the population of birds studied extended to specimens of different ages.

(With information from EFE)

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