Quantification of Toxic Metals Derived from Macroplastic Litter on Ookushi Beach, Japan

Abstract

The potential risk of toxic metals that could leach into a beach environment from plastic litter washed ashore on Ookushi Beach, Goto Islands, Japan was estimated by balloon aerial photography, in situ beach surveys, and leaching experiments in conjunction with a Fickian diffusion model analysis. Chromium (Cr), cadmium (Cd), tin (Sn), antimony (Sb), and lead (Pb) were detected in plastic litter collected during the beach surveys. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) fishing floats contained the highest quantity of Pb. Balloon aerial photography in conjunction with a beach survey gave an estimated mass of Pb derived from plastic litter of 313 ± 247 g. Lead leaching experiments on collected PVC floats showed that Pb in the plastic litter could leach into surrounding water on the actual beach, and that plastic litter may act as a "transport vector" of toxic metals to the beach environment. Using the experimental data, the total mass of Pb that could leach from PVC plastic litter over a year onto Ookushi Beach was estimated as 0.6 ± 0.6 g/year, suggesting that toxic metals derived from plastic beach litter are a potential "pathway" to contamination of the beach environment due to their accumulation in beach soil over time.

The Complex Mixture, Fate and Toxicity of Chemicals Associated with Plastic Debris in the Marine Environment

“…Similar to organic chemicals, several metals have long been additive ingredients of plastics (e.g. lead added to PVC; Lithner et al 2011;Nakashima et al 2011Nakashima et al , 2012, but now we have evidence that plastic debris accumulates metals from ocean water (Ashton et al 2010;Holmes et al 2012;Rochman et al 2014a). Environmental accumulation of metals onto plastics may have been expected, as the surfaces of plastic containers are known to accumulate metals from water samples (Fischer et al 2007;Weijuan et al 2001;Robertson 1968).…”

“…As such, plastic pre-production pellets, a recognizable component of marine debris, are now used to examine the global pattern of PBTs (Ogata et al 2009;Takada et al 2006), acting as passive samplers and providing baseline information regarding PBT contamination in the ocean. International Pellet Watch leads this effort, collecting plastic pellets globally and measuring the concentrations of various PBTs sorbed to plastic debris (Takada et al 2006;Ogata et al 2009; see also The presence of organic chemicals on plastic debris may be established globally, but the presence of a complex mixture of metals on plastic debris has only been recently demonstrated (Ashton et al 2010;Holmes et al 2012;Nakashima et al 2011Nakashima et al , 2012Rochman et al 2014a). Similar to organic chemicals, several metals have long been additive ingredients of plastics (e.g.…”

Contamination and risk of heavy metals in soils and sediments from a typical plastic waste recycling area in North China

“…In addition, plastic wastes can potentially absorb various priority pollutants from the environment to some extent (Nakashima et al, 2012;Rochman et al, 2013). Hence, many toxicants could be released into the environment during the milling, washing and melt processing of material recycling of plastic wastes, especially with the rather primitive and crude facilities used.…”

“…Various metals are used in different plastics as additives or filling materials (Dimitrakakis et al, 2009;Li and Shi, 2011;Nakashima et al, 2012;Rochman et al, 2013). These additives include pigments (e.g., ZnO and Cr 2 O 3 ), flame retardants (often brominated organics combined with Sb 2 O 3 ) and stabilizers or plasticizers (e.g., compounds of Cd, Pb and Zn) (Morf et al, 2007;Li and Shi, 2011).…”

“…For example, brominated organics and phthalate esters (PAEs) have been extensively applied in plastic products as flame retardants and plasticizers, respectively. These additives also include other flame retardants and plasticizers, pigments, stabilizers, and reinforcement components, which are composed of heavy metals or metal compounds (Dimitrakakis et al, 2009;Li and Shi, 2011;Nakashima et al, 2012;Rochman et al, 2013). In some products, the contents of these dangerous additives are high or extremely high (Morf et al, 2007;Dimitrakakis et al, 2009;Stenvall et al, 2013 …”