The rise in ocean plastics evidenced from a 60-year time series

Ostle, Clare; Thompson, Richard C.; Broughton, Derek; Gregory, Lance; Wootton, Marianne; Johns, David G.

doi:10.1038/s41467-019-09506-1

Cited by 361 publications

(154 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Trawling the water's surface with 333 µm mesh nets, Moore et al () reported the mass of microplastic in samples from the North Pacific gyre was six times that of coincident plankton. Although this galvanized global discussion of marine debris, reports existed as early as 1965 (Ostle et al, ). Due to their size, bathymetry, and position in the hydrological cycle, oceans serve as a sink for plastic debris and other persistent pollutants.…”

Section: Fate Of Microplastics In the Oceanmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Global Perspective on Microplastics

Hale¹,

Seeley²,

Guardia³

et al. 2020

JGR Oceans

741

270

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Society has become increasingly reliant on plastics since commercial production began in about 1950. Their versatility, stability, light weight, and low production costs have fueled global demand. Most plastics are initially used and discarded on land. Nonetheless, the amount of microplastics in some oceanic compartments is predicted to double by 2030. To solve this global problem, we must understand plastic composition, physical forms, uses, transport, and fragmentation into microplastics (and nanoplastics). Plastic debris/microplastics arise from land disposal, wastewater treatment, tire wear, paint failure, textile washing, and at-sea losses. Riverine and atmospheric transport, storm water, and disasters facilitate releases. In surface waters plastics/microplastics weather, biofoul, aggregate, and sink, are ingested by organisms and redistributed by currents. Ocean sediments are likely the ultimate destination. Plastics release additives, concentrate environmental contaminants, and serve as substrates for biofilms, including exotic and pathogenic species. Microplastic abundance increases as fragment size decreases, as does the proportion of organisms capable of ingesting them. Particles <20 μm may penetrate cell membranes, exacerbating risks. Exposure can compromise feeding, metabolic processes, reproduction, and behavior. But more investigation is required to draw definitive conclusions. Human ingestion of contaminated seafood and water is a concern. Microplastics indoors present yet uncharacterized risks, magnified by the time we spend inside (>90%) and the abundance of polymeric products therein. Scientific challenges include improving microplastic sampling and characterization approaches, understanding long-term behavior, additive bioavailability, and organismal and ecosystem health risks. Solutions include improving globally based pollution prevention, developing degradable polymers and additives, and reducing consumption/expanding plastic reuse.

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Section: Fate Of Microplastics In the Oceanmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Global Perspective on Microplastics

Hale¹,

Seeley²,

Guardia³

et al. 2020

JGR Oceans

741

270

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Nevertheless, there is a large mismatch between the estimates of the amount of municipal solid plastic waste generated on land that enters coastal waters (5-12 million tonnes yr −1 , Jambeck et al 2015) and the total amount of plastic floating at sea (less than 0.3 million tonnes, Cózar et al 2014, Eriksen et al 2014, van Sebille et al 2015b. Also, there is a discussion about whether the amount of plastics measured at sea over the last few decades , Ostle et al 2019 has kept pace with the growth in global plastic production (Goldstein et al 2012, Geyer et al 2017.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The physical oceanography of the transport of floating marine debris

Sebille

Aliani

Law

et al. 2020

Environ. Res. Lett.

612

267

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Marine plastic debris floating on the ocean surface is a major environmental problem. However, its distribution in the ocean is poorly mapped, and most of the plastic waste estimated to have entered the ocean from land is unaccounted for. Better understanding of how plastic debris is transported from coastal and marine sources is crucial to quantify and close the global inventory of marine plastics, which in turn represents critical information for mitigation or policy strategies. At the same time, plastic is a unique tracer that provides an opportunity to learn more about the physics and dynamics of our ocean across multiple scales, from the Ekman convergence in basin-scale gyres to individual waves in the surfzone. In this review, we comprehensively discuss what is known about the different processes that govern the transport of floating marine plastic debris in both the open ocean and the coastal zones, based on the published literature and referring to insights from neighbouring fields such as oil spill dispersion, marine safety recovery, plankton connectivity, and others. We discuss how measurements of marine plastics (both in situ and in the laboratory), remote sensing, and numerical simulations can elucidate these processes and their interactions across spatio-temporal scales. Environ. Res. Lett. 15 (2020) 023003 E van Sebille et al Environ. Res. Lett. 15 (2020) 023003 E van Sebille et al References Acha E M, Mianzan H W, Iribarne O, Gagliardini D A, Lasta C and Daleo P 2003 The role of the Rı́o de la Plata bottom salinity front in accumulating debris Mar. Pollut. Bull. 46 197-202 Acha E M, Piola A, Iribarne O and Mianzan H 2015 Ecological Processes at Marine Fronts: Oases in the Ocean (Berlin: Springer) Aliani S and Molcard A 2003 Hitch-hiking on floating marine debris: macrobenthic species in the Western Mediterranean Sea Hydrobiologia 503 59-67 Allen J 1985 Principles of Physical Sedimentology (Berlin: Springer) Alpers W 1985 Theory of radar imaging of internal waves Nature 314 245-7 Alsina J M and Cáceres I 2011 Sediment suspension events in the inner surf and swash zone. Measurements in large-scale and high-energy wave conditions Coast. Eng. 58

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“…MPs are considered an emerging pollutant 3 because they have strong abilities to become enriched in heavy metals 4,5 and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) 6,7 and can affect the growth of organisms 8 . Since 2013, extensive data have been accumulated on the spatial distribution of MPs in coastal areas 9,10 , oceans 11,12 , rivers 13,14 , lakes 15,16 , sediments 17,18 and soil 19,20 . MPs have been found in remote areas 21,22 , which confirmed that MPs could be transported over long distances via the atmosphere 21 and ocean currents 12,15 , which makes MPs an extensive global pollutant.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The rapid increases in microplastics in urban lake sediments

Dong

Luo

Jiang

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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Anthropocene 8,27,33,35 , but there is still lack of sufficient studies about (micro)plastics abundance and characteristics versus time. We selected the second-largest urban lake in China, Donghu Lake, as the study area and collected a sediment column. The MPs with a detection limit of 100 μm versus time were studied by the 210 Pb chronological data, Raman Spectrometer identification and scanning electron microscope. The changes in MPs abundance, length, colour, polymer type, and surface features over time were studied, and the possibility of using MPs as an indicator of the Anthropocene was discussed.

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The rise in ocean plastics evidenced from a 60-year time series

Cited by 361 publications

References 26 publications

A Global Perspective on Microplastics

A Global Perspective on Microplastics

The physical oceanography of the transport of floating marine debris

The rapid increases in microplastics in urban lake sediments

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