At a Glance

A new study found pollution in some of the planet's deepest waters.Some of these pollutants were banned decades ago, but continue to be consumed by creatures of the deep.

Pollution has reached every end of the Earth– even the planet's deepest waters.

A new study, , concluded that even the deepest trenches in our oceans have been impacted by harmful pollution. They've found trash– – several miles below the surface, and a device down to explore the Mariana Trench returned , according to NPR. When these creatures were studied, the scientists learned just how far-reaching our pollution problems have become.

"So we just sort of turn up with this really weird looking animal, and joking aside, he came back and said these are really badly contaminated," Alan Jamieson, a biologist at Newcastle University and an author of the study, told NPR.

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Pictured here is the shrimplike Hirondellea giga, known to consume anything that falls to the deep sea.

(Dr. Alan Jamieson)

One discovery was especially disturbing: in the fatty tissue of these creatures, a , according to a release. These POPs includedpolychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) andpolybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). The former was released from landfills in leaks and also during industrial accidents and discharges, while the latter was used as an electrical insulator and flame retardant, the release also said.

PCBs were used from the 1930s until they were banned in the 1970s, but they don't break down naturally, so they've been found in the environment for decades, the report added. Over the years, contaminated plastics and dead animals sank to the bottom of the ocean and were consumed by these amphipods. As the food chain's natural process worked its way down to the bottom of the sea, the creatures consumed by these amphipods had a very concentrated amount of the pollutants in their system, making it even more dangerous.

The team will now work to learn more about the effects of these pollutants on the ecosystem, and what it could mean for the rest of the oceans.

"We still think of the deep ocean as being this remote and pristine realm, safe from human impact, but our research shows that, sadly, this could not be further from the truth," Jamieson said in the release.

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