<P> In March 2018, The Ocean Cleanup published a paper summarizing their findings from the Mega - (2015) and Aerial Expedition (2016). In 2015, the organization crossed the Great Pacific garbage patch with 30 vessels, to make observations and take samples with 652 survey nets . They collected a total of 1.2 million pieces, which they counted and categorized into their respective size classes . In order to also account for the larger, but more rare larger debris, they also flew over the patch in 2016 with a C - 130 Hercules aircraft, equipped with LiDAR sensors . The findings from the two expeditions, show that the patch is 1.6 million square kilometers and has a concentration of 10 - 100 kg per square kilometers . They estimate there to be 80,000 metric tons in the patch, with 1.8 trillion plastic pieces, out of which 92% of the mass is to be found in objects larger than 0.5 centimeters . </P> <P> The Great Pacific garbage patch has one of the highest levels known of plastic particulates suspended in the upper water column . As a result, it is one of several oceanic regions where researchers have studied the effects and impact of plastic photodegradation in the neustonic layer of water . Unlike organic debris, which biodegrades, the photodegraded plastic disintegrates into ever smaller pieces while remaining a polymer . This process continues down to the molecular level . As the plastic flotsam photodegrades into smaller and smaller pieces, it concentrates in the upper water column . As it disintegrates, the plastic ultimately becomes small enough to be ingested by aquatic organisms that reside near the ocean's surface . In this way, plastic may become concentrated in neuston, thereby entering the food chain . </P> <P> Some plastics decompose within a year of entering the water, leaching potentially toxic chemicals such as bisphenol A, PCBs, and derivatives of polystyrene . </P> <P> The process of disintegration means that the plastic particulate in much of the affected region is too small to be seen . In a 2001 study, researchers (including Charles Moore) found concentrations of plastic particles at 334,721 pieces per km with a mean mass of 5,114 grams (11.27 lbs) per km, in the neuston . Assuming each particle of plastic averaged 5 mm × 5 mm × 1 mm, this would amount to only 8 m per km due to small particulates . Nonetheless, this represents a high amount with respect to the overall ecology of the neuston . In many of the sampled areas, the overall concentration of plastics was seven times greater than the concentration of zooplankton . Samples collected at deeper points in the water column found much lower concentrations of plastic particles (primarily monofilament fishing line pieces). </P>

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