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
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Plastic pollution impacts on marine carbon biogeochemistry
Luisa Galgani,Steven Loiselle +1 more
TL;DR: The present analysis develops a common ground between studies and identifies knowledge gaps where new research efforts should be focused, to better determine potential feedbacks of plastics on the carbon biogeochemistry of a changing ocean.
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Optimising beached litter monitoring protocols through aerial imagery.
TL;DR: This study optimised the protocol for the monitoring of the same litter along coastal stretches within an MPA in the Maltese Islands through aerial drones, with the aim of generating density maps for the beached litter and mainstreaming this type of methodology within national and regional monitoring programmes for marine litter.
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Pelagic microplastics in surface water of the Eastern Indian Ocean during monsoon transition period: Abundance, distribution, and characteristics.
TL;DR: This first study to obtained comprehensive and comparable baseline data about MPs in the Eastern Indian Ocean, including abundance, spatial distribution and characteristics, shows that MP pollution in the EIO is among the highest of the world's oceans.
Journal ArticleDOI
Sources, transport, measurement and impact of nano and microplastics in urban watersheds
Quinn T. Birch,Phillip M. Potter,Patricio X. Pinto,Dionysios D. Dionysiou,Souhail R. Al-Abed +4 more
TL;DR: An overall aim of this review is to report the sources and abundances of N& MPs in urban watersheds, and summarize monitoring methods and their limitations, knowing that identifying N&MPs and their urban/industrial sources is necessary to reduce their presence in all environments.
Journal ArticleDOI
Impact of microplastics on microbial community in sediments of the Huangjinxia Reservoir-water source of a water diversion project in western China.
TL;DR: This is the first study to explore the impact of microplastic on microbes in sediments of a natural river ecosystem, providing a basis for further study of the interaction between microplastics and microbes in similar habitats.
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
TL;DR: It is shown that microscopic plastic fragments and fibers are also widespread in the marine environment and may persist for centuries.
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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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Microplastics in the Marine Environment: A Review of the Methods Used for Identification and Quantification
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Journal ArticleDOI
Transport and release of chemicals from plastics to the environment and to wildlife
Emma L. Teuten,Jovita M. Saquing,Detlef R.U. Knappe,Morton A. Barlaz,Susanne Jonsson,Annika Björn,Steven J. Rowland,Richard C. Thompson,Tamara S. Galloway,Rei Yamashita,Daisuke Ochi,Yutaka Watanuki,Charles J. Moore,Pham Hung Viet,Touch Seang Tana,Maricar S. Prudente,Ruchaya Boonyatumanond,Mohamad Pauzi Zakaria,Kongsap Akkhavong,Yuko Ogata,Hisashi Hirai,Satoru Iwasa,Kaoruko Mizukawa,Yuki Hagino,Ayako Imamura,Mahua Saha,Hideshige Takada +26 more
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.