Recent comments in /f/science

Taxoro t1_j69j2ao wrote

>Floating microplastic is broken down into ever smaller, invisible nanoplastic particles that spread across the entire water column, but also to compounds that can then be completely broken down by bacteria.

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verstohlen t1_j69il6d wrote

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scaleofthought t1_j69iivp wrote

... do you really need a 55 page scientific study that you'll never read to logically explain that UV light doesn't make plastic magically vanish?

Or uh.... Can we just assume within reason that plastic just doesn't disappear because the weather was good, and rather UV light makes plastic brittle, causing it to break down into micro plastics?

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giuliomagnifico OP t1_j69fals wrote

>Potentially, there may be good news in this research, says Niemann. "In part, the plastic breaks down into substances that can be completely broken down by bacteria. But for another part, the plastic remains in the water as invisible nanoparticles."

Although

> We need to continue investigating the fate of the remaining plastic. Also, we need to investigate what all this micro and nano plastic does to marine life. Even more important”, Niemann stresses, “is to stop plastic littering all together, as this thickens the ocean’s plastic soup.

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Hot-Specialist-6824 t1_j69dzbs wrote

Disappear from the surface is the key phrase. Most of it's still there, just in micro particles which still get eaten by sea life, still enter the food chain, still poison and kill.

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