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
Reads0
Chats0
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
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
Acute and chronic effects of polystyrene microplastics on brine shrimp: First evidence highlighting the molecular mechanism through transcriptome analysis
T.Y. Suman,Pan-Pan Jia,Wei-Guo Li,Muhammad Junaid,Guang-Yuan Xin,Yan Wang,De-Sheng Pei,De-Sheng Pei +7 more
TL;DR: The results demonstrated that acute exposure to polystyrene microplastics induced no significant effects on the survival of brine shrimp, and the concentration-dependent increase in both bioaccumulation and the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was observed after acute and chronic exposure.
Journal ArticleDOI
Measuring marine plastic debris from space : Initial assessment of observation requirements
Victor Martinez-Vicente,James R. Clark,Paolo Corradi,Stefano Aliani,Manuel Arias,Mathias Bochow,Guillaume Bonnery,Matthew Cole,Andrés Cózar,Rory Donnelly,Fidel Echevarría,François Galgani,Shungudzemwoyo P. Garaba,Lonneke Goddijn-Murphy,Laurent Lebreton,Heather A. Leslie,Penelope K. Lindeque,Nikolai Maximenko,François-Régis Martin-Lauzer,Delwyn Moller,Peter Murphy,Lorenzo Palombi,Valentina Raimondi,Julia Reisser,Laia Romero,Stefan G. H. Simis,Sindy Sterckx,Richard C. Thompson,Konstantinos Topouzelis,Erik van Sebille,Joana M. Veiga,A. Dick Vethaak +31 more
TL;DR: Steps needed to develop marine plastic debris detection by remote sensing platforms are proposed in terms of fundamental science as well as linkages to ongoing planning for satellite systems with similar observation requirements.
Journal ArticleDOI
Microplastic Ingestion by Gelatinous Zooplankton May Lower Efficiency of the Biological Pump.
TL;DR: The results suggest that today, microplastic ingestion by salps has minimal impact on the biological pump, however, under futuremicroplastic concentrations (or in areas such as convergent zones), microplastics may have the potential to lower the efficiency of the Biological pump.
Journal ArticleDOI
Microplastics in Tampa Bay, Florida: Abundance and variability in estuarine waters and sediments.
Kinsley McEachern,Henry A. Alegria,Amelia L. Kalagher,Cypress Hansen,Samantha Morrison,David W. Hastings,David W. Hastings +6 more
TL;DR: High concentrations of microplastic were found in sediments close to industrial sources; lowest values in Middle and Lower Tampa Bay are consistent with shorter residence times, and most (>75%) microplastics were fibers.
Journal ArticleDOI
Large-scale ocean connectivity and planktonic body size
Ernesto Villarino,James R. Watson,Bror Jönsson,Josep M. Gasol,Guillem Salazar,Silvia G. Acinas,Marta Estrada,Ramon Massana,Ramiro Logares,Caterina R. Giner,Massimo C. Pernice,Massimo C. Pernice,M. Pilar Olivar,Leire Citores,Jon Corell,Naiara Rodríguez-Ezpeleta,José Luis Acuña,Axayacatl Molina-Ramírez,Axayacatl Molina-Ramírez,J. Ignacio González-Gordillo,Andrés Cózar,Elisa Martí,José A. Cuesta,Susana Agustí,Susana Agustí,Eugenio Fraile-Nuez,Carlos M. Duarte,Carlos M. Duarte,Xabier Irigoien,Guillem Chust +29 more
TL;DR: Results confirm that the dispersal scale of planktonic and micro-nektonic organisms is determined by local abundance, which scales with body size, ultimately setting global spatial patterns of diversity.
References
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
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.
Journal ArticleDOI
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.
Journal ArticleDOI
Microplastics in the Marine Environment: A Review of the Methods Used for Identification and Quantification
TL;DR: This review of 68 studies compares the methodologies used for the identification and quantification of microplastics from the marine environment and suggests standardized sampling procedures which allow the spatiotemporal comparison ofmicroplastic abundance across marine environments.
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.