'It was very surprising to find microplastics so deep,' researcher Winnie Courtene-Jones told Newsweek.
Finding the plastics in these samples initially left the scientists baffled, given that this group of materials was not mass-produced until the mid-20th century.
In the study, the researchers propose a number of mechanisms for how the microplastics could have ended up in the 150-year-old sediments. "Our findings that microplastics were present in sediments dating from long before mass plastic production indicate that processes within the seafloor might redistribute the microplastics deeper. Burrowing worms live in the seabed and can draw plastics deeper inside their burrows. Another mechanism is that microplastics can move between gaps, so-called pores, within the sediments and so the microplastics can move into deeper layers this way," she said.
"The findings of this research indicates that microplastics can move through sediments in ways we did not know before," Courtene-Jones said."This has implications for understanding the fate of plastics in our environment. Also microplastics could alter the properties of the sediments and cause harm to the organisms living in them."
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