CSIRO
CSIRO

14 million tonnes of microplastics on the seafloor

Embargoed until: Publicly released:
Peer-reviewed: This work was reviewed and scrutinised by relevant independent experts.

CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, has provided the first ever global estimate for microplastics on the seafloor, with results suggesting there are 14 million tonnes in the deep ocean.

Journal/conference: Frontiers in Marine Science

Link to research (DOI): 10.3389/fmars.2020.576170

Organisation/s: CSIRO, Monash University, University of Tasmania

Funder: CSIRO, Great Australian Bight Deepwater Marine Program (GABDMP), Chevron Australia

Media release

From: CSIRO

CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, has provided the first ever global estimate for microplastics on the seafloor, with results suggesting there are 14 million tonnes in the deep ocean.

This is more than double the amount of plastic pollution estimated to be on the ocean’s surface.

Justine Barrett from CSIRO’s Oceans and Atmosphere who led the study published today said the research extended our understanding of the amount of plastic pollution in our oceans and the impact of plastic items, both large and small.

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