Global distribution of two polystyrene-derived contaminants in the marine environment: A review

Abstract

Plastic pollution is one of the major issues impacting on the marine environment. Plastic polymers are known to leach industrial chemicals and associated contaminants. In this review, we focused on assessing the global distribution and concentration of two polystyrene-derived contaminants, hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs) and styrene oligomers (SOs), in marine sediments and seawater. Overall, most of the studies were carried out in Asia, North America, and Europe. Relatively high concentrations of these contaminants are generally attributed to the proximity of urban cities, plastic industries, polystyrene pollution, and aquaculture. Moreover, the concentrations in sediments are many times higher than in seawater. HBCDs were found to be a negligible risk to marine biota when compared to the ecotoxicological endpoints. However, realistic concentrations of SOs could compromise the wellbeing of certain species in highly polluted sites. The future perspectives and research were discussed.

What we need to know about PPE associated with the COVID-19 pandemic in the marine environment

“…Moreover, weathering conditions promote plastic items to leach toxic additives, like flame retardants and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) (Bejgarn et al, 2015;De-la-Torre et al, 2020;Teuten et al, 2009). The effectiveness of the chemical sorption or release will vary depending on environmental factors and the physical-chemical characteristics of the plastic items.…”

Study on preparation of highly dispersed graphite composite expandable polystyrene foam by homogeneous dissolution‐suspension polymerization with waste polystyrene

“…The environmental hazards of wEPS are self‐evident, how to dispose and better utilize of these resources is important to improve environmental quality and maintain a low‐carbon life. [ 5–9 ]…”

“…The environmental hazards of wEPS are self-evident, how to dispose and better utilize of these resources is important to improve environmental quality and maintain a low-carbon life. [5][6][7][8][9] Over the years, many studies have been reported some approaches on the reuse of wEPS. Most of the studies were conducted by further processing of wEPS to form corresponding functionalized products to increase its added value.…”

Techniques Used for Analyzing Microplastics, Antimicrobial Resistance and Microbial Community Composition: A Mini-Review

“…It is hypothesized that weathering can intensify both HM (Prunier et al, 2019) and AB association (Zhou et al, 2020) with MPs and potential migration of additives (Commission Regulation, 2011) from the polymer. Indeed, the European Chemical Agency has identified 1,550 additives (European Chemical Agency, 2019), many of which are known to leach into the environment (De-la-Torre et al, 2020;Bolívar-Subirats et al, 2021) as they are generally not chemically bound to polymers and can thus potentially migrate (Hahladakis et al, 2018). Metals and metal-based additives are mostly used as colorants and fillers, and research on release rate of toxic HM additives (e.g., Cd, Pb, Sb, Sn) in plastics during recycling is ongoing (Hahladakis et al, 2018).…”