Uploaded July 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Nanoplastic Concentrations Measured across the North Atlantic Ocean, and inside Every Human Brain
A new study discusses recent observational measurements on nanoplastics (size less than 1 micron, or one millionth of a meter size) in the north Atlantic Ocean. Data was collected at 9 different points, ranging from a southern gyre to the far northern European coastline, at depths near the surface, down to 1000 m, and to the ocean floor.
These nanoplastics are everywhere (ubiquitous) and are in much higher levels than anybody thought, with the cumulative mass in the north Atlantic of 27 million tonnes (27 MT), which exceeds that of much larger plastic chunks (macroplastics and microplastics).
Because nanoplastics are so small, they easily pass through biological cell walls, and can penetrate everywhere including the entire human body. I chat about how there are copious amounts of plastic in the human brain, with total plastic mass in the brain approaching that of a common plastic fork.
Food for thought...
It is only recently that technology has improved enough to accurately characterize and measure nanoplastic sizes and concentrations.
What happens in the ocean happens in the human brain.
Paul Beckwith
Please donate to PaulBeckwith.net to support my research and videos connecting the dots on abrupt climate system mayhem.
Links referenced in video:
Bluesky social media post on nanoplastics from a couple days ago:
https://bsky.app/profile/fheritale.bsky.social/post/3luhida2cac27
New peer-reviewed scientific paper (open source, thus free):
Title: Nanoplastic concentrations across the North Atlantic
Abstract
Plastic pollution of the marine realm is widespread, with most scientific attention given to macroplastics and microplastics. By contrast, ocean nanoplastics (size less than 1 μm)
remain largely un-quantifed, leaving gaps in our understanding of the mass budget of
this plastic size class. Here we measure nanoplastic concentrations on an ocean basin scale along a transect crossing the North Atlantic from the subtropical gyre to the northern European shelf. We find approximately 1.5–32.0 mg m−3 of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polystyrene (PS) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) nanoplastics throughout the entire water column. On average, we observe a 1.4-fold higher concentration of nanoplastics in the mixed layer when compared with intermediate
water depth, with highest mixed-layer nanoplastic concentrations near the European continent. Nanoplastic concentrations at intermediate water depth are 1.8-fold higher in the subtropical gyre compared with the open North Atlantic outside the gyre. The lowest nanoplastic concentrations, with about 5.5 mg m−3 on average and predominantly composed of PET, are present in bottom waters. For the mixed layer of the temperate to subtropical North Atlantic, we estimate that the mass of nanoplastic may amount to 27 million tonnes (Mt). This is in the same range or exceeding previous budget estimates of macroplastics/microplastics for the entire Atlantic or the global
ocean. Our findings suggest that nanoplastics comprise the dominant fraction of marine plastic pollution.
Link: nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09218-1
Perplexity.ai links to questions:
Tell me about nanoplastics in the ocean.
Tell me about nanoplastics in the human brain.
perplexity.ai/search/tell-me-about-nanoplastics-in-clwe_g87Sxikt3MKh2ZDgw
Please donate to PaulBeckwith.net to support my research and videos connecting the dots on abrupt climate system mayhem.
What happens in the ocean happens in the human brain.
Paul Beckwith
Nanoplastic Concentrations Measured across the North Atlantic Ocean, and inside Every Human Brain
A new study discusses recent observational measurements on nanoplastics (size less than 1 micron, or one millionth of a meter size) in the north Atlantic Ocean. Data was collected at 9 different points, ranging from a southern gyre to the far northern European coastline, at depths near the surface, down to 1000 m, and to the ocean floor.
These nanoplastics are everywhere (ubiquitous) and are in much higher levels than anybody thought, with the cumulative mass in the north Atlantic of 27 million tonnes (27 MT), which exceeds that of much larger plastic chunks (macroplastics and microplastics).
Because nanoplastics are so small, they easily pass through biological cell walls, and can penetrate everywhere including the entire human body. I chat about how there are copious amounts of plastic in the human brain, with total plastic mass in the brain approaching that of a common plastic fork.
Food for thought...
It is only recently that technology has improved enough to accurately characterize and measure nanoplastic sizes and concentrations.
What happens in the ocean happens in the human brain.
Paul Beckwith
Please donate to PaulBeckwith.net to support my research and videos connecting the dots on abrupt climate system mayhem.
Links referenced in video:
Bluesky social media post on nanoplastics from a couple days ago:
https://bsky.app/profile/fheritale.bsky.social/post/3luhida2cac27
New peer-reviewed scientific paper (open source, thus free):
Title: Nanoplastic concentrations across the North Atlantic
Abstract
Plastic pollution of the marine realm is widespread, with most scientific attention given to macroplastics and microplastics. By contrast, ocean nanoplastics (size less than 1 μm)
remain largely un-quantifed, leaving gaps in our understanding of the mass budget of
this plastic size class. Here we measure nanoplastic concentrations on an ocean basin scale along a transect crossing the North Atlantic from the subtropical gyre to the northern European shelf. We find approximately 1.5–32.0 mg m−3 of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polystyrene (PS) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) nanoplastics throughout the entire water column. On average, we observe a 1.4-fold higher concentration of nanoplastics in the mixed layer when compared with intermediate
water depth, with highest mixed-layer nanoplastic concentrations near the European continent. Nanoplastic concentrations at intermediate water depth are 1.8-fold higher in the subtropical gyre compared with the open North Atlantic outside the gyre. The lowest nanoplastic concentrations, with about 5.5 mg m−3 on average and predominantly composed of PET, are present in bottom waters. For the mixed layer of the temperate to subtropical North Atlantic, we estimate that the mass of nanoplastic may amount to 27 million tonnes (Mt). This is in the same range or exceeding previous budget estimates of macroplastics/microplastics for the entire Atlantic or the global
ocean. Our findings suggest that nanoplastics comprise the dominant fraction of marine plastic pollution.
Link: nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09218-1
Perplexity.ai links to questions:
Tell me about nanoplastics in the ocean.
Tell me about nanoplastics in the human brain.
perplexity.ai/search/tell-me-about-nanoplastics-in-clwe_g87Sxikt3MKh2ZDgw
Please donate to PaulBeckwith.net to support my research and videos connecting the dots on abrupt climate system mayhem.
What happens in the ocean happens in the human brain.
Paul Beckwith
