Microplastics in the oceans: the solutions lie on land (original) (raw)

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 •

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.

Impacts of Microplastics on Marine Organisms and in Human Health

2021

The ubiquitous presence of microplastics (MPs) across all oceans has emerged as a significant marine hazard as worldwide plastic production continues to grow. Now and during the next 20-30 years will be the time to confront the implications of the plastic industry's rise, which has resulted in the large-scale global production of millions of plastic-based items, varying from a single pen to automobiles. Inappropriate management, lack of awareness of the detrimental effects, reckless universal use, and the indiscriminate disposal of plastic based synthetic materials, has turned Earth into a "plastic planet”. It is critical to have a throughout understanding of MPs' potential from sink to source as well as the processes that govern their distribution and uptake and exchange in ecosystems, to properly comprehend their potential consequences and ecological harm. The goal of the present study was to identify the scenarios of microplastics structure, functions and subsequent ...

Microplastics in the Marine Environment: Sources, Consequences and Solutions

Marine Anthropogenic Litter

Microplastics are small fragments of plastic debris that have accumulated in the environment on a global scale. They originate from the direct release of particles of plastic and as a consequence of the fragmentation of larger items. Microplastics are widespread in marine habitats from the poles to the equator; from the sea surface and shoreline to the deep sea. They are ingested by a range of organisms including commercially important fish and shellfish and in some populations the incidence of ingestion is extensive. Laboratory studies indicate that ingestion could cause harmful toxicological and/or physical effects. However, our understanding of the relative importance of these effects in natural populations is very limited. Looking to the future it seems inevitable that the quantity of microplastic will increase in the environment, since even if we could stop new items of debris entering the ocean, fragmentation of the items already present would continue for years to come. The term microplastics has only been in popular usage for a decade and while many questions remain about the extent to which they could have harmful effects, the solutions to reducing this contamination are at hand. There are considerable synergies to be achieved by designing plastic items for both their lifetime in service and their efficient end-of-life recyclability, since capturing waste via recycling will reduce usage of non-renewable oil and gas used in the production of new plastics and at the same time reduce the accumulation of waste in managed facilities such as land fill as well as in the natural environment.

Microplastics in the marine environment

Marine Pollution Bulletin, 2011

This review discusses the mechanisms of generation and potential impacts of microplastics in the ocean environment. Weathering degradation of plastics on the beaches results in their surface embrittlement and microcracking, yielding microparticles that are carried into water by wind or wave action. Unlike inorganic fines present in sea water, microplastics concentrate persistent organic pollutants (POPs) by partition. The relevant distribution coefficients for common POPs are several orders of magnitude in favour of the plastic medium. Consequently, the microparticles laden with high levels of POPs can be ingested by marine biota. Bioavailability and the efficiency of transfer of the ingested POPs across trophic levels are not known and the potential damage posed by these to the marine ecosystem has yet to be quantified and modelled. Given the increasing levels of plastic pollution of the oceans it is important to better understand the impact of microplastics in the ocean food web.

Microplastics in marine environments: Occurrence, distribution and effects

Most members of the public are aware of, or have seen the impacts of, litter pollution on the marine environment, so common are scenes of beaches covered in litter. The extent of this pollution is such that the amount of marine litter found along the Norwegian coast and the coast of Svalbard has been described as unacceptable. Much of this litter is in the form of plastic, with global use and production steadily increasing since mass production started in the 1940s, annual global production is now close to 300 million tonnes. What we don't see is plastic in the form of very small particles, socalled 'microplastics' that pollutes much of the marine environment. This report reviews the current understanding of the occurrence, distribution and effects of microplastics on the marine environment.

Marine Pollution by Microplastics in the Mediterranean Sea

Journal of Marine Science and Engineering

Worldwide, plastic debris is becoming a great environmental problem, with potentially negative effects also on human health, although currently the topic is highly debated in the scientific community. In the basin, microplastics come mainly from three coastal regions, namely Egypt, Turkey and Italy, in decreasing order. Today, the knowledge about the possible interactions of microplastics in the biotic system is unclear and huge efforts are required to discover their effects on human health. Therefore, it is necessary to reduce the production and use of plastics by investing money in research planning and strengthening any kind of human efforts to solve this new kind of marine pollution.

Microplastics in the Marine Environment: Distribution, Interactions and Effects

Marine Anthropogenic Litter, 2015

Microplastics are an emerging marine pollutant. It is important to understand their distribution in the marine environment and their implications on marine habitats and marine biota. Microplastics have been found in almost every marine habitat around the world, with plastic composition and environmental conditions significantly affecting their distribution. Marine biota interact with microplastics including birds, fish, turtles, mammals and invertebrates. The biological repercussions depend on to the size of microplastics encountered, with smaller sizes having greater effects on organisms at the cellular level. In the micrometre range plastics are readily ingested and egested, whereas nanometre-sized plastics can pass through cell membranes. Despite concerns raised by ingestion, the effects of microplastic ingestion in natural populations and the implications for food webs are not understood. Without knowledge of retention and egestion rates of field populations, it is difficult to deduce ecological consequences. There is evidence to suggest that microplastics enter food chains and there is trophic transfer between predators and prey. What is clear is that further research on a variety of marine organisms is required to understand the environmental implications of microplastics in more detail and to establish effects in natural populations.