Researchers say microplastics are spreading throughout oceans from surface levels to several-thousand-meter depths.



Microplastics are particles 5 millimeters or smaller that mostly result from the breakdown of larger plastic waste. Fish and other creatures can easily swallow them, raising concerns over their influence on ecosystems.



Researchers from the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, or JAMSTEC, and other institutes around the world have analyzed data from 1,885 sampling stations to better understand how microplastics are distributed in oceans.



The data used were collected between 2014 and 2024.



The researchers say relatively smaller pieces of under 0.1 millimeter tend to spread more evenly from the surface to deeper levels.



The group warns that these small microplastics take more time to sink and so affect the marine ecosystems over longer periods.



Shiye Zhao, an associate researcher at JAMSTEC, says that he was shocked as the study showed the sea has become a large "bank" for microplastics.



He said that in this research, the group compiled data collected from various methods. He said he hopes that a subsequent study will unify the way information is gathered in cooperation with international researchers.