Engineering News

I have lived on and around Florida seas for 35 years. I have never seen or heard of such particles. Was this study funded by the metals industry?

Bob

I have lived near the sea for most of my life and have never seen them either. This however is not surprising since they are microscopic particles. So unless you are either superman or in the habit of walking around with a microscope I doubt you ever would see them. What was the last time you bothered to put sea water under a microscope? I for one can't remember ever having, which is an oversight that I intend to remedy in the not too distant future.

My experience with plastics is limited but rapidly increasing as our company branches out into this area. For the most part, I would rather swallow a handfull of plastic pellets than the natural gunk at the bottom of the ocean. Plastics (not all) break down extremely slowly with the exception of those exposed to uv light. They are not very reactive to most oxidizing agents, with this in mind, I don't see where the problem is.

Perhaps I should shut up and read the article!