Plastic particles less than one micrometre in size are found across the globe – from the peaks of the Alps to the depths of the oceans. A research team from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Utrecht University, and the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ) investigated the presence of nanoplastic in the North Atlantic. The findings show that nanosized plastic particles are present at all depths between the temperate and subtropical zone of the ocean. By mass, the amount of nanoplastic is comparable to that of microplastic. An article published in Nature concludes that nanoplastic plays a far greater role in marine plastic pollution than previously assumed.