Plastic as a Persistent Marine Pollutant (original) (raw)
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Annual Review of Environment and Resources Plastic as a Persistent Marine Pollutant
2017
Synthetic organic polymers—or plastics—did not enter widespread use until the 1950s. By 2015, global production had increased to 322 million metric tons (Mt) year−1, which approaches the total weight of the human population produced in plastic every year. Approximately half is used for packaging and other disposables, 40% of plastic waste is not accounted for in managed landfills or recycling facilities, and 4.8–12.7 Mt year−1 enter the ocean as macroscopic litter and microplastic particles. Here, we argue that such mismanaged plastic waste is similar to other persistent pollutants, such as dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) or polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which once threatened a “silent spring” on land. Such a scenario seems now possible in the ocean, where plastic cannot be easily removed, accumulates in organisms and sediments, and persists much longer than on land. New evidence indicates a complex toxicology of plastic microand nanoparticles on marine life, and transfer ...
The Global Plastic Breakdown: How Microplastics Are Shredding Ocean Health
Coastal Heritage
The Global PlasTic breakdown: how MicroPlasTics are shreddinG ocean healTh What's happening to sea life as plastics are shredded into smaller and smaller pieces? TinY ParTicles, biG ProbleMs Smaller particles are especially "sticky," capturing waterborne contaminants. sweePs caPTure PlasTic liTTer, includinG ciGareTTe buTTs Cigarette butts are primarily made from plastic. Dispose of them properly. news and noTes • New insights on marketable clams • Accountant/fiscal analyst joins Consortium • Litter cleanup volunteers needed • Coastal Heritage wins prestigious awards ebbs and Flows •
Interactions of microplastic debris throughout the marine ecosystem
Nature Ecology & Evolution, 2017
Marine microscopic plastic (microplastic) debris is a modern societal issue, illustrating the challenge of balancing the convenience of plastic in daily life with the prospect of causing ecological harm by careless disposal. Here we develop the concept of microplastic as a complex, dynamic mixture of polymers and additives, to which organic material and contaminants can successively bind to form an 'ecocorona', increasing the density and surface charge of particles and changing their bioavailability and toxicity. Chronic exposure to microplastic is rarely lethal, but can adversely affect individual animals, reducing feeding and depleting energy stores, with knock on effects for fecundity and growth. We explore the extent to which ecological processes could be impacted, including altered behaviours, bioturbation and impacts on carbon flux to the deep ocean. We discuss how microplastic compares with other anthropogenic pollutants in terms of ecological risk, and consider the role of science and society in tackling this global issue in the future.
Environmental sciences Europe, 2018
Persistent plastics, with an estimated lifetime for degradation of hundreds of years in marine conditions, can break up into micro- and nanoplastics over shorter timescales, thus facilitating their uptake by marine biota throughout the food chain. These polymers may contain chemical additives and contaminants, including some known endocrine disruptors that may be harmful at extremely low concentrations for marine biota, thus posing potential risks to marine ecosystems, biodiversity and food availability. Although there is still need to carry out focused scientific research to fill the knowledge gaps about the impacts of plastic litter in the marine environment (Wagner et al. in Environ Sci Eur 26:9, 2014), the food chain and human health, existing scientific evidence and concerns are already sufficient to support actions by the scientific, industry, policy and civil society communities to curb the ongoing flow of plastics and the toxic chemicals they contain into the marine environm...
Microplastics in the oceans: the solutions lie on land
Field Actions Science Reports. The journal of field actions, 2019
There are 5,250 billion* plastic particles floating on the surface on the world’s seas and oceans, equivalent to 268,940 metric tons of waste. These fragments move with the currents before washing up on beaches, islands, coral atolls or one of the five great ocean gyres. As early as 2010, Tara Expeditions Foundation was one of the first bodies to undertake a scientific examination of microplastic pollution in the oceans, an issue previously subject to very limited scientific study. Tara wanted to use its ocean study programs to understand the impact of this pollution on marine life. In 2014, Tara conducted a seven-month expedition in the Mediterranean Sea to improve understanding of the consequences in a semi-enclosed sea. The expedition highlighted the fact that microplastics are heavily colonized by bacteria. Research into sea-borne plastic has since become an integral part of Tara’s work. Excessive consumption of plastics, and the waste this generates, has a massive impact on the...
Microplastics and nanoplastics in the marine-atmosphere environment
Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, 2022
The discovery of atmospheric micro(nano)plastics transport and ocean-atmosphere exchange points to a highly complex marine plastic cycle, with negative implications for human and ecosystem health. Yet observations are currently limited. In this Perspective, 4 of 23 07/04/2022, 15:41 we quantify the marine-atmospheric micro(nano)plastics cycle processes and fluxes, with the aim of highlighting the remaining unknowns in atmospheric micro(nano)plastics transport. Between 0.013 and 25 million metric tons per year of micro(nano)plastics are potentially being transported within the marine atmosphere and deposited in the oceans. However, the high uncertainty in these marine-atmospheric fluxes is related to data limitations and a lack of study intercomparability. To address the uncertainties and remaining knowledge gaps in the marineatmospheric micro(nano)plastics cycle, we propose a future global marine-atmospheric micro(nano)plastics observation strategy, incorporating novel sampling methods and the creation of a comparable, harmonized and global dataset. Together with long-term observations and intensive investigations, this strategy will help to define the trends in marine-atmospheric pollution and any responses to future policy and management actions. Editor's Summary Atmospheric transport of microplastics could be a major source of plastic pollution to the ocean, yet observations currently remain limited. This Perspective quantifies the known budgets of the marine-atmospheric micro(nano)plastics cycle and proposes a future global observation strategy.
The Sea of Plastics: A Review on Microplastic Pollution in Marine Ecosystem
MICROPLASTIC STUDIES, 2021
Micron-sized plastics, ranging from 1μm to 5mm, are now causing a gigantic problem to the various ecosystems worldwide. Among the various components of the environment, marine ecosystem is the most vulnerable to microplastics pollution as it serves as the ultimate catchment basin of several anthropogenic effluents. This study aims to afford a multidisciplinary review on microplastic pollution in marine ecosystem viewed from the historical antecedents of the invention, development, and utilization of plastics, taxonomy of plastics and microplastics wastes, bio-physicochemical mechanisms of microplastics pollution of the abiotic and biotic factors, the physiological threats of microplastics to human health, and the legislations in the local, national, and international levels in pursuit of the mitigation of this ever-increasing global concern. The study utilized a systematic approach in reviewing 159 related literatures and studies selected through a predetermined set of criteria including date, type of publication, and reported outcomes. Qualitative content analysis was employed for the extraction of manifest and latent meaningbased data. Knowledge gaps were identified. Conclusions were drawn with the purpose of highlighting future avenues of research for the natural and social scientists.