"We have enough data from looking at wildlife, and the impacts that it's having on wildlife, to be concerned," Dr Sherri Mason, a microplastic expert at the State University of New York in Fredonia, and a supervisor on the study for Orb, told the Guardian.

In July: Plastic Garbage Patch Bigger Than Mexico Found in Pacific https://t.co/GubO1y2cVh vía @NatGeo — Marco García León (@ballenasvolando) September 6, 2017

“If it’s impacting [wildlife], then how do we think that it’s not going to somehow impact us?”

Researchers don't know exactly how the tiny pieces of plastic are entering the water tables that cities use for tap water, but tons of plastic fibers from clothes discharged in wastewater, mishandled plastic waste, synthetic fibers in the atmosphere, tire dust washed into storm drains and streams are a few of the possible ways such large-scale contamination could be occurring.

According to a 2013 report, 300 million tons of plastic is produced worldwide every year, and millions of tons end up in the oceans and landfills.

Only about 10 percent of consumer plastic was recycled in 2012, according to the Worldwatch Institute.