Microplastics Found in Sediment Layers Untouched by Modern Humans

Microplastics! They’re in everything, from our bodies to the ocean.

And apparently they’re even found in sediment layers that date back as early as the first half of the 1700s, showing microplastics’ pernicious ability to infiltrate even environments untouched by modern humans.

A team of European researchers made this alarming discovery after studying the sediment layers at three lakes in Latvia, as detailed in a study published in the journal Science Advances.

The scientists were studying lake sediment to test if the presence of microplastics in geological layers would be a reliable indicator for the beginning of the Anthropocene Epoch, defined in the study as starting in 1950 and meant to delineate when humans started having a large impact on our environment.

Scientists have long used layers of ash or ice to study past events on Earth, leading to the question of whether microplastics can serve as a reliable chronological marker for the Anthropocene.

Clearly not, according to this new research, which found microplastics in every layer of sediment they dredged up, including one from 1733.

“We conclude that interpretation of microplastics distribution in the studied sediment profiles is ambiguous and does not strictly indicate the beginning of the Anthropocene Epoch,” the scientists wrote.

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