Plastic debris litters aquatic habitats globally, the majority of which is microscopic (< 1 mm), and is ingested by a large range of species. Risks associated with such small fragments come from the material itself and from chemical pollutants that sorb to it from surrounding water. Hazards associated with the complex mixture of plastic and accumulated pollutants are largely unknown. Here, we show that fish, exposed to a mixture of polyethylene with chemical pollutants sorbed from the marine environment, bioaccumulate these chemical pollutants and suffer liver toxicity and pathology. Fish fed virgin polyethylene fragments also show signs of stress, although less severe than fish fed marine polyethylene fragments. We provide baseline information regarding the bioaccumulation of chemicals and associated health effects from plastic ingestion in fish and demonstrate that future assessments should consider the complex mixture of the plastic material and their associated chemical pollutants.

METRICS Some altmetrics are too easy to game so lack credibility p.176 THEATRE New York play explores why Isaac Newton stuck a needle in his eye p.175 ECODESIGN Materials makers on how to do more with less p.174 ECODESIGN Olympic velodrome engineer builds with nature p.172 Classify plastic waste as hazardousPolicies for managing plastic debris are outdated and threaten the health of people and wildlife, say Chelsea M. Rochman, Mark Anthony Browne and colleagues.

A highly chlorinated flame retardant, Dechlorane Plus (DP), was detected and identified in ambient air, fish, and sediment samples from the Great Lakes region. The identity of this compound was confirmed by comparing its gas chromatographic retention times and mass spectra with those of authentic material. This compound exists as two gas chromatographically separable stereoisomers (syn and anti), the structures of which were characterized by one- and two-dimensional proton nuclear magnetic resonance. DP was detected in most air samples, even at remote sites. The atmospheric DP concentrations were higher at the eastern Great Lakes sites (Sturgeon Point, NY, and Cleveland, OH) than those at the western Great Lakes sites (Eagle Harbor, MI, Chicago, IL, and Sleeping Bear Dunes, MI). Atthe Sturgeon Point site, DP concentrations once reached 490 pg/m3. DP atmospheric concentrations were comparable to those of BDE-209 at the eastern Great Lakes sites. DP was also found in sediment cores from Lakes Michigan and Erie. The peak DP concentrations were comparable to BDE-209 concentrations in the sediment core from Lake Erie butwere about 30 times lower than BDE-209 concentrations in the core from Lake Michigan. In the sediment cores, the DP concentrations peaked around 1975-1980, and the surficial concentrations were 10-80% of peak concentrations. Higher DP concentrations in air samples from Sturgeon Point, NY, and in the sediment core from Lake Erie suggest that DP's manufacturing facility in Niagara Falls, NY, may be a source. DP was also detected in archived fish (walleye) from Lake Erie, suggesting that this compound is, at least partially, bioavailable.

Concerns regarding marine plastic pollution and its affinity for chemical pollutants led us to quantify relationships between different types of mass-produced plastic and organic contaminants in an urban bay. At five locations in San Diego Bay, CA, we measured sorption of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) throughout a 12-month period to the five most common types of mass-produced plastic: polyethylene terephthalate (PET), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), and polypropylene (PP). During this long-term field experiment, sorption rates and concentrations of PCBs and PAHs varied significantly among plastic types and among locations. Our data suggest that for PAHs and PCBs, PET and PVC reach equilibrium in the marine environment much faster than HDPE, LDPE, and PP. Most importantly, concentrations of PAHs and PCBs sorbed to HDPE, LDPE, and PP were consistently much greater than concentrations sorbed to PET and PVC. These data imply that products made from HDPE, LDPE, and PP pose a greater risk than products made from PET and PVC of concentrating these hazardous chemicals onto fragmented plastic debris ingested by marine animals.

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Background This study examined whether thirdhand smoke (THS) persists in smokers’ homes after they move out and nonsmokers move in, and whether new nonsmoking residents are exposed to THS in these homes. Methods Homes of 100 smokers and 50 nonsmokers were visited before the residents moved out. Dust, surfaces, and air and participants’ fingers were measured for nicotine and children’s urine samples were analyzed for cotinine. The new residents who moved into these homes were recruited if they were nonsmokers. Dust, surfaces, and air, and new residents’ fingers were examined for nicotine in 25 former smoker and 16 former nonsmoker homes. A urine sample was collected from the youngest resident. Results Smoker homes’ dust, surface, and air nicotine decreased after the change of occupancy (p<.001); yet dust and surfaces showed higher contamination levels in former smoker homes than former nonsmoker homes (p<.05). Nonsmoking participants’ finger nicotine was higher in former smoker homes compared to former nonsmoker homes (p<.05). Finger nicotine levels among nonsmokers living in former smoker homes were significantly correlated with dust and surface nicotine and urine cotinine. Conclusions These findings indicate that THS accumulates in smokers’ homes and persists when smokers move out even after homes remain vacant for two months and are cleaned and prepared for new residents. When nonsmokers move into homes formerly occupied by smokers, they encounter indoor environments with THS polluted surfaces and dust. Results suggest that nonsmokers living in former smoker homes are exposed to THS in dust and on surfaces.

Air samples were collected at five sites (urban, semiurban, agricultural, and remote) from Lake Michigan through the U. S. Midwest to the Gulf of Mexico every 12 days during 2002-2003 using high-volume samplers so that we could study the spatial trends of brominated flame retardants (polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs), and 1,2-bis(2,4,6-tribromophenoxy)-ethane (TBE)). The mean sigmaPBDE atmospheric concentration was 100 +/- 35 pg/m3 at the Chicago site, which was 3-6 times higher than that at the other sites. The sigmaPBDE atmospheric concentrations at the Chicago site were significantly higher than previous measurements made in 1997-1999. Unlike these former measurements, BDE-209 is now relatively abundant. Lower BDEs (tri- through hex-BDEs) were detected in both the particle and the gas phases, and the partitioning of these compounds between phases was highly dependent on atmospheric temperature. Higher BDEs (hepta- through deca-BDEs) were mostly detected in the particle phase. On the basis of the congener distributions in the samples, the concentrations were divided into three groups: penta-BDEs, octa-BDEs, and deca-BDEs. Penta-BDEs were the most concentrated at the Chicago site and the least concentrated at the Louisiana site; octa-BDE concentrations were low at all of the sites; deca-BDEs were the most concentrated at the Chicago site and notably high atthe Arkansas site. High concentrations of deca-BDEs, HBCDs, and TBE at the Arkansas site suggest that manufacturing areas in southern Arkansas could be the source regions. Backward trajectories for air masses with high concentrations of deca-BDEs coming to the Arkansas site suggestthat deca-BDEs bound to particles can move long distances from source regions to nonsource regions.

Targeted environmental monitoring reveals contamination by known chemicals, but may exclude potentially pervasive but unknown compounds. Marine mammals are sentinels of persistent and bioaccumulative contaminants due to their longevity and high trophic position. Using nontargeted analysis, we constructed a mass spectral library of 327 persistent and bioaccumulative compounds identified in blubber from two ecotypes of common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) sampled in the Southern California Bight. This library of halogenated organic compounds (HOCs) consisted of 180 anthropogenic contaminants, 41 natural products, 4 with mixed sources, 8 with unknown sources, and 94 with partial structural characterization and unknown sources. The abundance of compounds whose structures could not be fully elucidated highlights the prevalence of undiscovered HOCs accumulating in marine food webs. Eighty-six percent of the identified compounds are not currently monitored, including 133 known anthropogenic chemicals. Compounds related to dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) were the most abundant. Natural products were, in some cases, detected at abundances similar to anthropogenic compounds. The profile of naturally occurring HOCs differed between ecotypes, suggesting more abundant offshore sources of these compounds. This nontargeted analytical framework provided a comprehensive list of HOCs that may be characteristic of the region, and its application within monitoring surveys may suggest new chemicals for evaluation.