Overview
- Researchers directly identified 248 human-made compounds across samples from coastal regions, coral reefs and the open ocean.
- In coastal datasets, median anthropogenic chemical signals reached about 20%, with polluted river mouths exceeding 50%, while open-ocean values were far lower yet still detectable offshore.
- Industrial chemicals tied to plastics, lubricants and hygiene products dominated the human chemical signal, whereas pesticides and pharmaceuticals were most concentrated near shore.
- The analysis combined 2,315 samples from more than 20 field studies using consistent high-resolution mass spectrometry and shared computational tools, and the full dataset is publicly available.
- Authors describe the work as an initial inventory with uneven geographic coverage and urge targeted, quantitative studies to determine ecological impacts and roles in marine carbon cycling.