A recent study by Irish-based researchers has confirmed that plastic pollution is reaching deep into the ocean with results showing that over 70% of deep sea fish have ingested plastic.

According to Anders Jacobson, co-founder and CEO of Blue, the sustainability focused holding company of clean drinking water solutions provider Bluewater, the results of the study are extraordinarily worrying for human and planetary health.

The highest frequencies of microplastic

“It is extraordinarily worrying that plastic particles have now been found in three out of four deep-sea fish thousands of kilometres from land,” he notes. The study, which was published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science this week, revealed that almost three quarters of a sample of more than 230 deep-water fish collected by National University of Ireland (NUI) Galway scientists had ingested plastic particles.

Furthermore the contamination level among the fish species, located in the northwest Atlantic thousands of kilometres from land and 600m down in the ocean, is one of the highest reported frequencies of microplastic occurrence in fish worldwide.

Jacobson says that this is further evidence of how ocean pollution by plastic is a serious issue facing society especially since the plastic particles that were found contained additives such as flame retarders and colourants which may pose a threat to human health for generations to come.

Taking a stand

Jacobson adds that as a company, Bluewater is taking a stand against the ongoing tsunami of plastic waste ending up in our ocean and land environments that threaten human and planetary health.

Last year, the company’s founder, Swedish environmentalist Bengt Rittri, launched a movement to harness human ingenuity to deliver water purification technology and solutions to people everywhere on the planet and help slash the need for single-use plastic bottles.

“We believe a company can function in a sustainable way to do something right for future generations, which is why we have made battling single-use plastics, their use and transportation with solutions that allow pure water to be generated at point of use a core business mission,” he concludes.