six pounds of plastic for every
pound of plankton of phenol and
hydrochloric acid able to degrade
in the atmosphere three new compounds
not found in nature were discovered in
the Northern Gyre styrene monomer styrene
dimer and styrene trimer a noted
human carcinogen a giant island of
floating garbage its low density of
four particles per cubic meter prevents
detection by satellite imagery or even
by casual boaters and divers because
the patch is a widely dispersed area consisting
of fingernail sized microscopic particles in
the upper water column known as
microplastics 620 thousand square miles
in total toothbrushes water bottles plastic
lighters pens baby bottles small fibers of
wood pulp found throughout the patch originateS
from thousands of tonnes of toilet paper
flushed into the oceans daily the gyre or
gyres of which there are many result
in a feedback loop of methane and ethylene
air pollutants harmful to human
tissue the gyres are expected to grow and
will almost double in extent in the next few
years scientists have nicknamed each a garbage patch
or shitzone
James McLaughling
.