Heavy metals, metalloids and other hazardous elements in marine plastic litter

Abstract

Plastics, foams and ropes collected from beaches in SW England have been analysed for As, Ba, Br, Cd, Cl, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, Sb, Se, Sn and Zn by field-portable-x-ray fluorescence spectrometry. High concentrations of Cl in foams that were not PVC-based were attributed to the presence of chlorinated flame retardants. Likewise, high concentrations of Br among both foams and plastics were attributed to the presence of brominated flame retardants. Regarding heavy metals and metalloids, Cd and Pb were of greatest concern from an environmental perspective. Lead was encountered in plastics, foams and ropes and up to concentrations of 17,500μgg(-1) due to its historical use in stabilisers, colourants and catalysts in the plastics industry. Detectable Cd was restricted to plastics, where its concentration often exceeded 1000μgg(-1); its occurrence is attributed to the use of both Cd-based stabilisers and colourants in a variety of products.

Observational Study Unveils the Extensive Presence of Hazardous Elements in Beached Plastics from Lake Geneva

“…Several of the findings of our investigation are similar to those arising from studies of beaches in Atlantic Europe; specifically, there is a heterogeneous assortment of primary and secondary plastics and foams, coupled with a plastic pool that is dominated by polyolefins and with a relatively low abundance of higher density materials like PVC which, presumably, has a propensity for sedimentation (Turner, 2016;Fok et al, 2017;Massos and Turner, 2017). Unlike marine plastic surveys, however, there was an absence of primary production pellets and very little filamentous commercial fishing waste, like rope, netting, and cord, retrieved form the shores of the lake.…”

“…Compared with equivalent studies conducted on marine beaches (Turner, 2016), hazardous elements appear to occur in higher abundance in plastics retrieved from Lake Geneva. Since many of these compounds have been restricted or phased out over the past few decades (Hansen et al, 2013), we may infer that a significant proportion of the plastic stock in Lake Geneva is historical; specifically, the presence of Hg-based pigments suggests that some materials are at least 60 years old.…”

“…The majority of studies in this area have targeted persistent organic micropollutants, like polychlorinated biphenyls and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, that are sorbed to the plastic surface (Frias et al, 2010;Rochman et al, 2013;Gauquie et al, 2015;Ziccardi et al, 2016;Hong et al, 2017). However, attention has recently been paid to the occurrence and impacts of chemical elements in litter, like metals, metalloids and halogens, that are either adsorbed to the plastic or incorporated into the polymer itself (Boucher et al, 2016;Brennecke et al, 2016;Nakashima et al, 2016;Turner, 2016;Turner and Solman, 2016). While recent empirical evidence and models suggest that the exposure and accumulation of adsorbed compounds or elements may have been overstated in the literature (Herzke et al, 2016), inorganic additives of the plastic matrix, including flame retardants, catalysts and heavy metal-based pigments, appear to represent a more significant source of contaminants to the foodchain (Rani et al, 2015;Massos and Turner, 2017).…”

Cadmium pigments in consumer products and their health risks

“…Pigmented Cd was never detected in new plastic goods in the present study. By comparison, analysis 544 of beached plastic litter from south west England reveals a frequent occurrence of brightly coloured 545 (mainly red, orange and yellow) Cd-containing samples including bottle tops, gun cartridges and 546 ropes as well as unidentifiable fragments of varying sizes and shapes (Turner, 2016;Massos and 547 Turner, 2017). This observation is consistent with the incorporation of Cd pigments in single-use 548 items and consumer plastics that are no longer in circulation (Hansen et al, 2014).…”

Black plastics: Linear and circular economies, hazardous additives and marine pollution

“…Data for old and new black plastics, sourced from various households, offices, nurseries, schools, stores and fast-food establishments, have been compiled both from results of previous research into consumer plastics in general (Turner and Filella, 2017a;2017b) and from new measurements where black products have been specifically targeted. Data for marine plastic litter that is coloured black have been distilled from published and unpublished results of several beach litter surveys undertaken around the English Channel and Atlantic coasts of south west England (Turner, 2016;Massos and Turner, 2017).…”