A research team at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Studies in Germany has found that the algae Melosira arctica, which grows under Arctic sea ice, contains ten times more microplastic particles than the surrounding seawater. Scientific work published In the journal Environmental Science and Technology.
The arctic seaweed, Melosira arctica, blooms profusely under sea ice in spring and summer, forming chains of meters long there. After the algal cells die and leave the glaciers, they form large blocks that quickly sink and reach the bottom of the sea. These dead algae deposits are an important food source for marine life and bacteria at the bottom.
As it turns out, there is a huge amount of microplastic at the bottom of the Arctic seas, which dead algae cells absorb in the process of melting ice. The scientists analyzed the algae and found that one cubic meter of Melosira arctica contains an average of 19,000 to 31,000 particles; this is about ten times the concentration of non-decomposable waste in Arctic seawater. A detailed analysis of the composition of plastics showed that many materials such as polyethylene, polyester, polypropylene, nylon and acrylic are found in the Arctic.