North Atlantic garbage patch

[12] The North Atlantic garbage patch originates from human-created waste that travels from continental rivers into the ocean.

[6] Denser material that is thought to exist under the surface of the ocean includes plastic called polyethylene terephthalate that is used to make soft drink and water bottles.

[6] However, these denser plastics are not observed in the North Atlantic garbage patch because the methods to collect samples only capture the surface microplastics.

[14][15] Nikolai Maximenko of the University of Hawaii in Honolulu developed a computer model to describe how plastics are accumulated from converging surface currents to form garbage patches.

[16] Since a large amount of plastic in the North Atlantic Garbage Patch is in the form of microplastics, it is easier for marine animals to ingest them.

Along with that, the accumulation of microplastics in marine life can be transferred to humans when they consume contaminated organisms which could cause adverse health effects.

While the exact consequences of this are unknown, the researchers claim there could be significant adverse effects on marine life if something is not done to combat the issue.

[20] Another study conducted in 2021 looked at the accumulation of chemicals and plastics in species that are in the middle of the food web in the North Atlantic.

[22] Few efforts have been made to clean up the North Atlantic Garbage Patch, as removing the microplastics "would likely cause as much harm as good because of all the other small creatures in the ocean that would get filtered out too".

[11] On 11 April 2013, in order to create awareness, artist Maria Cristina Finucci founded The Garbage Patch State at UNESCO[8] –Paris in front of Director General Irina Bokova.