PARIS — Researchers from the Tara Ocean Foundation, an environmental research organization, collected water samples from nine rivers across Europe and found microplastic particles present in every sample.

Scientists traveled aboard a research ship called the Tara, across Europe's coastline for six months between May to November and collected 2,700 water samples, according to the foundation's website.

These samples were collected from different sites on rivers which included the Thames, Elbe, Rhine and Seine.

The microplastic particles found were less than 5 millimeters in size and were mostly microbeads or secondary microplastics, which are formed from larger plastic pieces due to exposure to sunlight.

The organization stated that these samples will be analyzed in laboratories in the next 12 to 18 months in order to determine their composition, degradation and their origins.

The project's aim is to identify the source of microplastic pollution and its impact on marine life.