Are litter, plastic and microplastic quantities increasing in the ocean?
François Galgani,Aleke Stoefen-o Brien,Judith S. Weis,Christos Ioakeimidis,Qamar Schuyler,Iryna Makarenko,Huw J. Griffiths,Joan Bondareff,Dick Vethaak,Alan Deidun,Paula Sobral,Konstantinos Topouzelis,Penny Vlahos,Fernanda O. Lana,Martin Hassellöv,Olivia Gerigny,Bera Arsonina,Archis Ambulkar,Maurizio Azzaro,Maria João Bebianno +19 more
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TLDR
In this paper, the authors discuss how trends in the amounts of litter in the marine environment can be compared with the information provided by models, and they find that increasing amounts of plastic are found in some regions, especially in remote areas.Abstract:
Whilst both plastic production and inputs at sea have increased since the 1950s, several modelling studies predict a further increase in the coming years in these respective quantities. We compiled scientific literature on trends in marine litter, consisting largely of plastic and microplastics in the ocean, understanding that monitoring programs or assessments for these aspects are varied, frequently focusing on limited components of the marine environment in different locations, and covering a wide spectrum of marine litter types, with limited standardization. Here we discuss how trends in the amounts of litter in the marine environment can be compared with the information provided by models. Increasing amounts of plastic are found in some regions, especially in remote areas, but many repeated surveys and monitoring efforts have failed to demonstrate any consistent real temporal trend. An observed steady state situation of plastic quantities in many marine compartments and the fate and transport of plastic in the marine environment remain areas for much needed further research.read more
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A multilevel dataset of microplastic abundance in the world’s upper ocean and the Laurentian Great Lakes
Atsuhiko Isobe,Takafumi Azuma,Muhammad Reza Cordova,Andrés Cózar,François Galgani,Ryuichi Hagita,La Daana K. Kanhai,Keiri Imai,Shinsuke Iwasaki,Shin’ichro Kako,Nikolai Kozlovskii,Amy Lusher,Amy Lusher,Sherri A. Mason,Yutaka Michida,Takahisa Mituhasi,Yasuhiro Morii,Tohru Mukai,Anna N. Popova,Kenichi Shimizu,Tadashi Tokai,Keiichi Uchida,Mitsuharu Yagi,Weiwei Zhang +23 more
TL;DR: In this paper, a total of 8218 pelagic microplastic samples from the world’s oceans were synthesized to create a dataset composed of raw, calibrated, processed, and gridded data which are made available to the public.
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Biopolymers production from microalgae and cyanobacteria cultivated in wastewater: Recent advances.
Savvas Giannis Mastropetros,Konstantinos Pispas,Dimitris P. Zagklis,Sameh S. Ali,Michael Kornaros +4 more
TL;DR: In this paper , a limited number of published studies have examined the accumulation of bioplastics, from microalgae grown in wastewater, at a concentration of 5.5-65% of dry biomass weight.
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Distribution Patterns of Floating Microplastics in Open and Coastal Waters of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea (Ionian, Aegean, and Levantine Seas)
Argyro Adamopoulou,Christina Zeri,Francesca Garaventa,Chiara Gambardella,Christos Ioakeimidis,Elli Pitta +5 more
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the distribution patterns of surface floating microplastics (MPs) in the Ionian, Aegean and Levantine Seas in relation to their sources and sea surface circulation.
Journal ArticleDOI
Fate of floating plastic debris released along the coasts in a global ocean model.
TL;DR: In this paper, the fate of floating plastic pollution discharged along the coasts is studied by comparing two sources, one based on river discharges and the other on mismanaged waste from coastal populations, using a Lagrangian numerical analysis in a global ocean circulation model.
Journal ArticleDOI
Contamination of the marine environment in Egypt and Saudi Arabia with personal protective equipment during COVID-19 pandemic: A short focus
TL;DR: In this paper , a short focus provides an assessment of the environmental impacts of single-use gloves and masks used for COVID-19 protection from June to August 2020, and the results indicated the presence of 2.79, 0.29, and 0.86 PPE items m−2 in Alexandria, Hurghada and Jeddah, respectively.
References
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Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made
TL;DR: By identifying and synthesizing dispersed data on production, use, and end-of-life management of polymer resins, synthetic fibers, and additives, this work presents the first global analysis of all mass-produced plastics ever manufactured.
Journal ArticleDOI
Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean
Jenna Jambeck,Roland Geyer,Chris Wilcox,Theodore R. Siegler,Miriam E. Perryman,Anthony L. Andrady,Ramani Narayan,Kara Lavender Law +7 more
TL;DR: This work combines available data on solid waste with a model that uses population density and economic status to estimate the amount of land-based plastic waste entering the ocean, which is estimated to be 275 million metric tons.
Supplementary Materials for Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean
Jenna Jambeck,Roland Geyer,Chris Wilcox,Theodore R. Siegler,Anthony L. Andrady,Ramani Narayan,Kara Lavender Law +6 more
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Lost at sea: where is all the plastic?
Richard C. Thompson,Ylva S. Olsen,Richard P. Mitchell,Anthony Davis,Steven J. Rowland,Anthony W. G. John,Daniel F. McGonigle,Andrea E. Russell +7 more
TL;DR: It is shown that microscopic plastic fragments and fibers are also widespread in the marine environment and may persist for centuries.
Journal ArticleDOI
Accumulation and fragmentation of plastic debris in global environments.
TL;DR: Global plastics production and the accumulation of plastic waste are documented, showing that trends in mega- and macro-plastic accumulation rates are no longer uniformly increasing and that the average size of plastic particles in the environment seems to be decreasing.
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