The composition and layering of plastic particles found in sea ice reveal their regions of origin [24. April 2018] “Experts at the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), have recently found higher amounts of microplastic in arctic sea ice than ever before. However, the majority of particles were microscopically small. The ice samples from five regions throughout the Arctic Ocean contained up to 12,000 microplastic particles per litre of sea ice. Further, the different types of plastic showed a unique footprint in the ice allowing the researchers to trace them back to possible sources. This involves the massive garbage patch in the Pacific Ocean, while in turn, the high percentage of paint and nylon particles pointed to the intensified shipping and fishing activities in some parts of the Arctic Ocean. The new study has just been released in the journal Nature Communications…”

• Ilka Peeken, Sebastian Primpke , Birte Beyer, Julia Guetermann, Christian Katlein, Thomas Krumpen, Melanie Bergmann, Laura Hehemann, Gunnar Gerdts: Arctic sea ice is an important temporal sink and means of transport for microplastic, Nature Communications, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-03825-5