Plastics and
microplastics in the marine environment are one of the great cause célèbre of our era.
Microplastics in the ocean are being consumed by corals in the Great Barrier Reef, but what impact could this pollution have on marine ecosystems?
During the summers of 2012 and 2013, chemist Sherri Mason led a team of researchers from the U.S. - based 5 Gyres Institute to measure the quantity of
microplastics in the waters of the Great Lakes.
The goal is to eliminate major sources of pollution, including
microplastics in cosmetics and single - use disposable plastics, by pressuring governments and individuals to rethink the way goods are packaged and their own shopping habits.
Experts are concerned that the concentration of
microplastics in the Arctic Ocean poses near - permanent contamination.
Scientists have shown that the Bulgarian Black Sea coast is among the most polluted with
microplastics in the world.
(a) Identification of the key sources of marine plastic debris and microplastics; (b) Identification of possible measures and best available techniques and environmental practices to prevent the accumulation and minimize the level of
microplastics in the marine environment; (c) Recommendations for the most urgent actions; (d) Specification of areas especially in need of more research, including key impacts on the environment and on human health; (e) Any other relevant priority areas identified in the assessment of the Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection;
Recognizes
that microplastics in the marine environment originate from a wide range of sources, including the breakdown of plastic debris in the oceans, industrial emissions and sewage and run - off from the use of products containing microplastics; 8.
Understanding the polluted effects of plastics and
microplastics in our local waters is the...
In the December 15 Environmental Pollution, Shi's team reports data on
microplastics in Chinese shellfish.
Richard C. Thompson is a professor of marine biology at Plymouth University in the UK who has conducted some of the pioneering studies on
microplastics in the marine environment.
Microplastics in Arctic polar waters: the first reported values of particles in surface and sub-surface samples.
Scientists now find
microplastics in the majority of samples collected from the world's oceans.
Researchers are concerned about the lack of knowledge regarding potential consequences of
microplastics in agricultural landscapes.
The image shows a copepod with fluorescent
microplastics in its stomach.
At NILU and Akvaplan - niva, the scientists are looking into both what happens to
microplastics in the environment and how microplastics affect the organisms that eat it.
In our studies, we find plastic and
microplastics in both aquatic organisms and various types of sea birds all the time.»
The proportion of samples containing microplastics ranges widely, but most studies have found
microplastics in the majority of the samples collected.
Other studies have found that
microplastics in the ocean absorb pollutants such as DDT.
The researchers found
microplastics in the shape of opaque and transparent spherules as well as of fragments and fibers.
The team found a wide array of
microplastics in the fish stomachs — with a whopping 73 % of the fish having ingested the pollutants.
Researchers found a wide array of
microplastics in fish stomachs — with a whopping 73 % of the fish having ingested the pollutants.
The study, published today in open - access journal Frontiers in Marine Science, found
microplastics in the stomachs of nearly three out of every four mesopelagic fish caught in the Northwest Atlantic — one of the highest levels globally.
Finding high levels of fibers in the fish is significant, as some studies investigating
microplastics in fish have dismissed such fibers as contaminants from the lab environment, meaning their role as a pollutant may have been underestimated.
At the moment, however, there is a lack of standardized methods for determining
microplastics in terrestrial ecosystems in order to produce an accurate assessment of the situation.
Barry is also on board with moves to avoid the use of
microplastics in things like toothpaste and cosmetic products.
Besseling et al. (2016): «Fate of nano - and
microplastic in freshwater systems: A modeling study» in Environmental Pollution, 2016.
Not exact matches
Marcario asks about microfibers, which come from recycled poly, and how they fit into the larger problem of
microplastics, particularly the small beads
in soaps.
Most of the pieces
in there are
microplastics — those tiny particles of plastic that seem to be
in most bottled water these days — but they only make up for 8 % of the total estimated mass.
Microplastics and the Seafood Industry Electro fishing
in marine fisheries.
Research on
microplastics is still
in the early stages, with further science on it emerging.
According to news sources, such as the BBC, researchers at State University of New York
in Fredonia found
microplastic particles
in nearly all of 250 bottled waters bought
in nine different countries.
These particles known as oceanic
microplastics are now so prolific
in the oceans that they outweigh plankton.
Microplastics, or plastic fibers that are less than 5 mm
in length, are said to contribute up to 30 % of the... Read More
Plus, fish caught
in the oceans may contain
microplastics, worms, and give kids exposure to mercury.
Fish may be considered a brain food, things like parasites, PCBs, mercury, and
microplastics often lurk
in fish.
New York Senator Kristen Gillibrand is urging federal regulators to ban
microplastics, a move that state environmental advocates are hoping can move legislation forward
in Albany.
Most of this plastic disintegrates into particles smaller than five millimetres, referred to as
microplastics, and breaks down further into nanoparticles, which are less than 0.1 micrometre
in size.
Sewage, for example, is an important factor
in the distribution of
microplastics.
In fact, terrestrial
microplastic pollution is much higher than marine
microplastic pollution — an estimate of four to 23 times more, depending on the environment.
Earthworms, for example, make their burrows differently when
microplastics are present
in the soil, affecting the earthworm's fitness and the soil condition.
Sewage sludge is then often applied to fields as fertilizer, meaning that several thousand tons of
microplastics end up
in our soils each year.
Humans also ingest
microplastics via food: they have already been detected not only
in fish and seafood, but also
in salt, sugar and beer.
Microplastics are small plastic fragments that have accumulated
in the marine environment following decades of pollution.
Despite their important role
in marine ecosystems, mesopelagic fish have been relatively understudied
in the context of
microplastics.
«The high ingestion rate of
microplastics by mesopelagic fish that we observed has important consequences for the health of marine ecosystems and biogeochemical cycling
in general.»
«
Microplastic pollution has been
in the news recently, with several governments planning a ban on microbeads used
in cosmetics and detergents» says Alina Wieczorek from the National University of Ireland, Galway and lead author of the study.
Scientists don't know a lot about where
microplastics stick around
in open water ecosystems.
Microplastics are defined as plastic particles smaller than 5 millimeters
in size.
The minimum average
microplastics pollution was found
in the stretch between Basel and Mainz (202,900 particles per square kilometer), a medium average at Bad Honnef, Köln - Porz and Leverkusen (714,053) and the highest average
in the Rhine - Ruhr metropolitan area (2,333,665).