A study recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences believes it's found out what happened to the millions of tons of trash that should be littering the oceans and seas. And the news isn't good for people fond of eating fish.

Every year, humans produce some 300 million tons of plastic. Unfortunately for the ecosystem, much of this plastic winds up in the oceans and seas. It stands to reason that much of this mess should be covering large swathes of the seas like a sheet.

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In this recent study, however, researchers reported finding 10,000 to 35,000 tons of plastic debris floating on sea surface, which is less than what they expected.

By analyzing seawater samples, researchers found no significant increase in the volume of plastic on surface water since the 1980s despite data showing that plastic production worldwide has increased four times since then.

The probable reason why most of this buoyant waste isn't clogging the oceans and seas is because they've been degraded by the pummeling action of waves and solar radiation. They're also being reduced into microscopic bits by "plastic eating microbes."

Finding fewer plastic debris fragments led researchers to conclude that these were likely sinking deep into the ocean.

"Those little pieces of plastic, known as microplastics, can last hundreds of years and were detected in 88 percent of the ocean surface sampled," said Andrés Cózar, a researcher from Spain's University of Cadiz and one of the team's leaders. 

Researchers took 200,000 samples from around the world to measure the amount of microplastics floating in the world's oceans.

The study said marine animals are likely eating these microplastics fragments, some of which are toxic. Fish eating these microplastics then pass on these toxic microplastics to humans that eat them.

The study also found that massive amounts of microplastics excreted via fish feces are being deposited on the ocean floor and are damaging the ecosystem.

Duarte said these microplastics influence the behavior and the food chain of marine organisms.

He noted that tiny plastic fragments often accumulate contaminants. Fish and marine organisms that swallow contaminated microplastics pass these microplastics to other organisms during digestion.

In 2012, the United Nations Environment Program estimated that some 13,000 pieces of microplastics are found in every square kilometer of sea. Scientists warn that microplastics are threatening to alter the natural environment in the open ocean. The North Pacific Ocean is the most heavily polluted by microplastics trash.

The research team doesn't claim to have the definitive answer, but have identified clues for other researchers to build on. 

Tagstoxic microplastic, fish poisoning, marine pollution