If you read the research on microplastics, these pollutants appear to be as frightening as they are ubiquitous. … A study published last month in Science Advances offers some new clues as to how water may be contributing to their spread. Scientists already knew that plastics degrade through exposure to sunlight and repeated weathering by waves, sand or other debris. But the new study suggests contact with water itself is also a factor: in both marine and river environments, researchers found that microbubbles can form on the surface of a piece of plastic, breaking it down—and releasing tiny, practically invisible plastic bits into the surrounding water.