They found microplastics even where it would have been unthinkable to find them

Bad news. They found microplastics even where it would have been unthinkable. That is, in the Mariana Trench. (Mariana Trench), the deepest known abyss (whose highest peak-the Challenger Abyss-reaches 10 994 m below sea level), in the northeastern Pacific Ocean. This is the result of research published in Geochemical Perspectives.

We have already told you, with the help of experts, about the dangers of microplastics(https://www.giornaledellavela.com/2018/10/14/sette-cose-sulle-microplastiche/). These are microfragments of less than 5 mm that result from products that directly contain plastic microspheres, such as exfoliating creams (scrubs), toothpastes, nail polishes, and other cosmetics, (but also from washing clothes that contain synthetic fibers) or from the fragmentation of waste or other larger plastic products.

Their danger lies precisely in their smallness: fish ingest them, some small fragments penetrate inside their bodies by exploiting the microcavities of the digestive system, and the plastic that we ourselves help create every day, with careless behaviors, returns to us in the fish counters in the form of “plasticized fish.”

Back to the depths: concentrations of microplastics between 200 and 2200 pieces of just a few millimeters per liter have been found in the Mariana Trench. Of course, it is not the only depression to experience such pollution, as Japan, Izu-Bonin, Peru-Chile, Vanuatu, and the Kermadec Islands also have decidedly worrying results.

HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE

One response to the high abundance of microplastics in the bottom waters and sediments of the Mariana Trench may be currents from the industrialized regions of the Pacific Northwest and the Subtropical North Pacific Gyr, called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

And the blame is once again on us. A trivial example is the waste from the use of the washing machine, where synthetic microfibers from our clothes are carelessly allowed to drain into rejection channels, and then dispersed into the sea.

The advice we can give you is first of all to choose “microplastics-free” cosmetic and personal hygiene products and perhaps equip yourself with a “microfiber attractor ball” like the one made by Coraball(https://coraball.com/, pictured opposite) to put in the washing machine each time you wash.

E.P.

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