Plastic debris in the open ocean
Andrés Cózar,Fidel Echevarría,J. Ignacio González-Gordillo,Xabier Irigoien,Bárbara Úbeda,Santiago Hernández-León,Alvaro T. Palma,Sandra Navarro,Juan García-de-Lomas,Andrea Ruiz,María L. Fernández-de-Puelles,Carlos M. Duarte +11 more
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TLDR
Using data from the Malaspina 2010 circumnavigation, regional surveys, and previously published reports, this work shows a worldwide distribution of plastic on the surface of the open ocean, mostly accumulating in the convergence zones of each of the five subtropical gyres with comparable density.Abstract:
There is a rising concern regarding the accumulation of floating plastic debris in the open ocean. However, the magnitude and the fate of this pollution are still open questions. Using data from the Malaspina 2010 circumnavigation, regional surveys, and previously published reports, we show a worldwide distribution of plastic on the surface of the open ocean, mostly accumulating in the convergence zones of each of the five subtropical gyres with comparable density. However, the global load of plastic on the open ocean surface was estimated to be on the order of tens of thousands of tons, far less than expected. Our observations of the size distribution of floating plastic debris point at important size-selective sinks removing millimeter-sized fragments of floating plastic on a large scale. This sink may involve a combination of fast nano-fragmentation of the microplastic into particles of microns or smaller, their transference to the ocean interior by food webs and ballasting processes, and processes yet to be discovered. Resolving the fate of the missing plastic debris is of fundamental importance to determine the nature and significance of the impacts of plastic pollution in the ocean.read more
Citations
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Efficient removal of microplastics from wastewater by an electrocoagulation process
TL;DR: In this paper , the removal performance, mechanism and influencing factors of microplastics in wastewater treatment by Electrocoagulation were investigated, and the results showed that aluminum anode was better than iron anode in removing microplastic.
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Global simulations of marine plastic transport show plastic trapping in coastal zones
TL;DR: In this article, a Lagrangian particle transport model was used to analyze the beached and resuspension scenarios of plastic debris in coastal waters, showing that at least 77% of positively buoyant marine plastic debris (PBMPD) released from land-based sources is either beached or floating in the ocean, assuming no further plastic removal from beaches or the ocean surface.
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Microbial Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs): Efficient Replacement of Synthetic Polymers
Faizan Muneer,Ijaz Rasul,Farrukh Azeem,Muhammad Hussnain Siddique,Muhammad Zubair,Habibullah Nadeem +5 more
TL;DR: This review summarizes the most important aspects of PHAs, crystalline and granular structure of PHA biosynthesizing genes and their relevant proteins, thermal and physical properties, sources, extraction, purification methods and applications are briefly discussed.
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Development of tailored indigenous marine consortia for the degradation of naturally weathered polyethylene films.
Evdokia Syranidou,Katerina Karkanorachaki,Filippo Amorotti,Filippo Amorotti,Eftychia Repouskou,Kevin J. Kroll,Boris A. Kolvenbach,Philippe F.-X. Corvini,Fabio Fava,Nicolas Kalogerakis +9 more
TL;DR: Taking into account the results, it can suggest that the tailored indigenous marine community represents an efficient consortium for degrading weathered PE plastics.
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Percentage of microbeads in pelagic microplastics within Japanese coastal waters
TL;DR: To compare the quantity of microbeads with the quantityOf pelagic microplastics potentially degraded in the marine environment, samples were collected in coastal waters of Japan using neuston nets.
References
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Microplastics in the marine environment
TL;DR: The mechanisms of generation and potential impacts of microplastics in the ocean environment are discussed, and the increasing levels of plastic pollution of the oceans are understood, it is important to better understand the impact of microPlastic in the Ocean food web.
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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
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TL;DR: Model calculations and experimental observations consistently show that polyethylene accumulates more organic contaminants than other plastics such as polypropylene and polyvinyl chloride, and PCBs could transfer from contaminated plastics to streaked shearwater chicks.