A marine plastic cloud - Global mass balance assessment of oceanic plastic pollution

Harris, Peter T.; Maes, Thomas; Raubenheimer, Karen; Walsh, J. P.

doi:10.1016/j.csr.2023.104947

Cited by 24 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…Although seasonal effects have been hypothesized to explain some of the observed variability, a study designed to assess seasonal patterns did not find clear effects . Nonetheless, in other river systems precipitation has been found to drive microplastic concentrations in surface water, , stressing the recognized need for more studies with higher time-resolution in freshwaters. ,, These data are needed to assess the contribution of river water column microplastics to the ocean water column, which is an important transitory sink of microplastics in the ocean …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Microplastics in the Water Column of the Rhine River Near Basel: 22 Months of Sampling

Erni-Cassola,

Dolf,

Burkhardt-Holm

2024

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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Measured microplastic concentrations in river surface waters fluctuate greatly. This variability is affected by season and is codriven by factors, such as sampling methodologies, sampling site, or sampling position within site. Unfortunately, most studies comprise single-instance measurements, whereas extended sampling periods are better suited to assessing the relevance of such factors. Moreover, microplastic concentrations in riverine water column remain underexplored. Similar to the oceans, however, this compartment likely holds significant amounts of microplastics. By representatively sampling the entire Rhine River cross-section near Basel through five sampling points over 22 months, we found a median microplastic (50−3000 μm) concentration of 4.48 n m −3 , and estimated a widely ranging load between 4.04 × 10 2 n s −1 and 3.57 × 10 5 n s −1 . We also show that the microplastic concentration in the water column was not well explained by river discharge. This suggests that although high discharge events as observed here can over short time periods lead to peak microplastic concentrations (e.g., 1.23 × 10 2 n m −3 ), microplastic load variance was not dominated by discharge in the study area.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… 16 , 25 , 26 These data are needed to assess the contribution of river water column microplastics to the ocean water column, which is an important transitory sink of microplastics in the ocean. 27 …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microplastics in the Water Column of the Rhine River Near Basel: 22 Months of Sampling

Erni-Cassola,

Dolf,

Burkhardt-Holm

2024

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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“…They also support various economic activities, including fisheries, tourism and recreation [ 2 ]. However, marine ecosystems face significant threats from human-induced pollution, with plastic pollution emerging as a severe and pressing concern [ 3 , 4 ]. Plastic pollution directly impacts ecosystems by entangling marine mammals and birds and blocking their digestive tracts [ 5 , 6 ], and indirectly by disrupting ecosystem structure and service provision [ 7 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Uncoupled: investigating the lack of correlation between the transcription of putative plastic-degrading genes in the global ocean microbiome and marine plastic pollution

Gambarini,

Drost,

Kingsbury

et al. 2024

Environmental Microbiome

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Background Plastic pollution is a severe threat to marine ecosystems. While some microbial enzymes can degrade certain plastics, the ability of the global ocean microbiome to break down diverse environmental plastics remains limited. We employed metatranscriptomic data from an international ocean survey to explore global and regional patterns in microbial plastic degradation potential. Results On a global oceanic scale, we found no significant correlation between levels of plastic pollution and the expression of genes encoding enzymes putatively identified as capable of plastic degradation. Even when looking at different regional scales, ocean depth layers, or plastic types, we found no strong or even moderate correlation between plastic pollution and relative abundances of transcripts for enzymes with presumed plastic biodegradation potential. Our data, however, indicate that microorganisms in the Southern Ocean show a higher potential for plastic degradation, making them more appealing candidates for bioprospecting novel plastic-degrading enzymes. Conclusion Our research contributes to understanding the complex global relationship between plastic pollution and microbial plastic degradation potential. We reveal that the transcription of putative plastic-degrading genes in the global ocean microbiome does not correlate to marine plastic pollution, highlighting the ongoing danger that plastic poses to marine environments threatened by plastic pollution.

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“…Plastic pollution is a global environmental problem [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]. Some studies predicted that about 12,000 tons of plastic waste would be buried in landfills or the natural environment by 2050 [ 5 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study on Properties and Degradation Behavior of Poly (Adipic Acid/Butylene Terephthalate-Co-Glycolic Acid) Copolyester Synthesized by Quaternary Copolymerization

Wang

Hou

Huang

et al. 2023

IJMS

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At present, the development and usage of degradable plastics instead of traditional plastics is an effective way to solve the pollution of marine microplastics. Poly (butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) is known as one of the most promising biodegradable materials. Nevertheless, the degradation rate of PBAT in water environment is slow. In this work, we successfully prepared four kinds of high molecular weight polyester copolyesters (PBATGA) via quaternary copolymerization. The results showed that the intrinsic viscosity of PBATGA copolymers ranged from 0.74 to 1.01 dL/g with a glycolic acid content of 0–40%. PBATGA copolymers had excellent flexibility and thermal stability. The tensile strength was 5~40 MPa, the elongation at break was greater than 460%, especially the elongation at break of PBATGA10 at 1235%, and the thermal decomposition temperature of PBATGA copolyesters was higher than 375 °C. It was found that PBATGA copolyester had a faster hydrolysis rate than PBAT, and the weight loss of PBATGA copolymers showed a tendency of pH = 12 > Lipase ≈ pH = 7 > pH = 2. The quaternary polymerization of PBAT will have the advantage of achieving industrialization, unlike the previous polymerization process. In addition, the polymerization of PBATGA copolyesters not only utilizes the by-products of the coal chemical industry, but also it can be promising in the production of biodegradable packaging to reduce marine plastic pollution.

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A marine plastic cloud - Global mass balance assessment of oceanic plastic pollution

Cited by 24 publications

References 68 publications

Microplastics in the Water Column of the Rhine River Near Basel: 22 Months of Sampling

Microplastics in the Water Column of the Rhine River Near Basel: 22 Months of Sampling

Uncoupled: investigating the lack of correlation between the transcription of putative plastic-degrading genes in the global ocean microbiome and marine plastic pollution

Study on Properties and Degradation Behavior of Poly (Adipic Acid/Butylene Terephthalate-Co-Glycolic Acid) Copolyester Synthesized by Quaternary Copolymerization

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