New Link in the Food Chain? Marine Plastic Pollution and Seafood Safety

Seltenrich, Nate

doi:10.1289/ehp.123-a34

Cited by 263 publications

(142 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Hydrophobic plastic fragments also leach contaminants and attract additional lipid soluble pollutants, such as persistent organic pollutants (POPs), aqueous metals, and endocrine disrupting chemicals (Derraik, 2002;Cole et al, 2011;Rochman et al, 2014;Rochman, 2015). These can biomagnify up marine food chains when ingested by biota, and pose a threat to human health through our collective dependence on marine food sources (Erren et al, 2015;Seltenrich, 2015). The threats associated with organic pollutants are perceived to be particularly high in small plastics, because their surface area to volume ratio facilitates considerably higher pollutant concentration, than larger fragments (Cole et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plastic Pollution Patterns in Offshore, Nearshore and Estuarine Waters: A Case Study from Perth, Western Australia

Hajbane

Pattiaratchi

2017

Front. Mar. Sci.

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Plastic pollution in marine surface waters is prone to high spatial and temporal variability. As a result increases in pollution over time are hard to detect. Selecting areas, based on variable oceanographic and climatological drivers, rather than distance-based approaches, is proposed as a means to better understand the dynamics of this confounding variability in coastal environments. A pilot study conducted in Perth metropolitan waters aimed to explore the applicability of this approach, whilst quantifying levels of plastic pollution in an understudied part of the world. Pollution ranged from 950 to 60,000 pieces km −2 and was dominated by fishing line. Offshore concentrations were highest with strongest Leeuwin Current flow, in the estuary immediately after rainfall, and increased in the nearshore after estuarine outfall. Results elucidated significant relationships between physical drivers and concentration changes and therefore their roles in increasing or decreasing local plastic pollution. Such observations can form the basis for predicting peak pollution periods and inform targeted mitigation.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plastic Pollution Patterns in Offshore, Nearshore and Estuarine Waters: A Case Study from Perth, Western Australia

Hajbane

Pattiaratchi

2017

Front. Mar. Sci.

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“…Barnes et al, 2009;Watts et al, 2014;Cole et al, 2015;Hardesty et al, 2015). The potential of impacts of marine plastic debris on human health is also attracting attention (Seltenrich, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The flip-or-flop boutique: Marine debris on the shores of St Brandon's rock, an isolated tropical atoll in the Indian Ocean

Bouwman

Evans

Cole

et al. 2016

Marine Environmental Research

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Highlights• Marine debris was studied on 15 islets of St. Brandon's Rock, Indian Ocean • Plastics made up 79% of 50 000 debris items at 0.74 items m -1 shore length Intact CFLs suggests product-facilitated long-range transport of mercury. We suspect that aggregated marine debris, scavenged by the islands from currents and gyres, could re-concentrate pollutants. SBR islets accumulated debris types in different proportions suggesting that many factors act variably on different debris types. Regular cleaning of selected islets will take care of most of the accumulated debris and may improve the ecology and tourism potential. However, arrangements and logistics require more study.

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“…For example, concerns have been raised regarding adverse impacts to human health from the consumption of seafood that is contaminated with plastic debris and associated chemicals [14]. Because very little data on this topic exist, research designed to answer such concerns is necessary.…”

Section: Evidence Regarding Harm or Impactmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several of these groups aim to bring together the existing information to assemble a formal risk assessment, a common part of technology assessment [9,10]. Here, the material plastic is like the technology for which risk assessments that measure the risk of plastic littered in the environment is desired.Several from each of these communities have expressed concern about plastic debris as an emerging contaminant globally [11,12], a threat to the conservation of biodiversity [13], and a potential danger for human health [11,14]. Although there is little disagreement about the pervasiveness of plastic contamination in the environment and the adverse interactions with wildlife, there remains much to understand about the mechanisms that drive the sources, fate, and impacts of plastic debris and the extent to which it impacts ecosystems and humans.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, many have raised concern regarding how humans may be affected in regard to both health and economy. Unfortunately, to complete a formal risk assessment to assess the ecological or human health impacts, a larger weight of evidence is still necessary [14,41].Many questions remain unanswered and/or unanswerable regarding the impact of plastic debris to humans given the deficit of available information. For example, concerns have been raised regarding adverse impacts to human health from the consumption of seafood that is contaminated with plastic debris and associated chemicals [14].…”

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confidence: 99%

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Plastic debris and policy: Using current scientific understanding to invoke positive change

Rochman

Cook

Koelmans

2016

Enviro Toxic and Chemistry

124

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Abstract-Captain Charles Moore introduced the world to the "GreatPacific Garbage Patch" in the mid-1990s, and images of plastic debris in the oceans began to sweep the media. Since then, there has been increasing interest from scientists, the public, and policy makers regarding plastic debris in the environment. Today, there remains no doubt that plastic debris contaminates aquatic (marine and freshwater) habitats and animals globally. The growing scientific evidence demonstrates widespread contamination from plastic debris, and researchers are beginning to understand the sources, fate, and effects of the material. As new scientific understanding breeds new questions, scientists are working to fill data gaps regarding the fate and effects of plastic debris and the mechanisms that drive these processes. In parallel, policy makers are working to mitigate this contamination. The authors focus on what is known about plastic debris that is relevant to policy by reviewing some of the weight of evidence regarding contamination, fate, and effects of the material. Moreover, they highlight some examples of how science has already been used to inform policy change and mitigation and discuss opportunities for future linkages between science and policy to continue the relationship and contribute to effective solutions for plastic debris. Environ Toxicol Chem 2016;35:1617-1626 Captain Charles Moore is credited with discovering an accumulation of plastic debris floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean in the mid-1990s and introducing this newfound issue to the world as the "North Pacific Garbage Patch" [1]. Since his discovery, Captain Moore's work likely served to intensify existing concern about the issue of plastics contamination and increased interest from the public, the scientific community, and policy makers. Increased public interest is evidenced by the increase in beach cleanups, environmental activist groups, and media attention regarding plastic debris. Increased scientific interest is evidenced by the large increase in scientific literature on the topic since the turn of the century [2,3]. For example, new literature now reports "garbage patches" in every major open ocean [4] and the presence of our plastic waste of all sizes in almost every major nook and cranny of marine and freshwater environments [4][5][6][7][8]. Increased interest from policy makers is evidenced by the formation of focus groups, which have sprung up in many agencies. For example, programs and working groups that focus on plastic debris have been created at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) in the United States, the Ministry of the Environment in Canada, The European Commission, the Northwest Pacific Action Plan in Asia, the Department of Environmental Affairs in South Africa, and globally at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Several of these groups aim to bring together the existing information to assemble a formal risk assessment, a common part of te...

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New Link in the Food Chain? Marine Plastic Pollution and Seafood Safety

Cited by 263 publications

References 37 publications

Plastic Pollution Patterns in Offshore, Nearshore and Estuarine Waters: A Case Study from Perth, Western Australia

Plastic Pollution Patterns in Offshore, Nearshore and Estuarine Waters: A Case Study from Perth, Western Australia

The flip-or-flop boutique: Marine debris on the shores of St Brandon's rock, an isolated tropical atoll in the Indian Ocean

Plastic debris and policy: Using current scientific understanding to invoke positive change

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