The degradation of plastic litter in rivers: Implications for beaches

Simmons, Sarah

doi:10.1007/bf02743038

Cited by 105 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…The majority of plastic debris is sourced from land, and thus, rivers are conduits for plastics to enter their final sink: the marine or lake realms. For example, in South Wales about 80% of litter on estuarine beaches comes from rivers (Williams and Simmons, 1996), and near Toronto, Canada, plastic pellets were observed travelling down the Humber River into Lake Ontario .…”

Section: Lakes and Riversmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Along lake shorelines and river banks, microplastics tend to become trapped in organic debris brought in by waves and currents (Zbyszewski et al, 2014;Corcoran et al, 2015). In addition, high-density plastics may rapidly accumulate within channel bedload where, mobile plastic elements in the traction carpet may be abraded rapidly (Williams and Simmons, 1996) and reduced to microplastic particles. Between rivers and the sea, mangroves can trap plastics as well as mud .…”

Section: Lakes and Riversmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Estimates of plastics currently entering the sea each year range from 6 million tons (UNEP 2009in Pham et al, 2014 to between 4.8 and 12.7 million metric tons (Jambeck et al, 2015), with the amount predicted to increase by an order of magnitude by 2025 (Jambeck et al, 2015). Differences in source are evident, for example around the UK coastline, with various proportions derived from rivers, flytipping, sewage outfalls, ship discharges (Williams and Simmons, 1996) and coastal tourism activities.…”

Section: Nearshore Marinementioning

confidence: 99%

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The geological cycle of plastics and their use as a stratigraphic indicator of the Anthropocene

Zalasiewicz

Waters

Sul³

et al. 2016

Anthropocene

706

286

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The rise of plastics since the mid-20 th century, both as a material element of modern life and as a growing environmental pollutant, has been widely described. Its distribution in both the terrestrial and marine realms suggests that it could be a key geological indicator of the Anthropocene, with potential to be a component of future geological strata. Most immediately evident in terrestrial deposits, it is clearly becoming a widespread component of marine sedimentary deposits in both shallow-and deep-water settings. It is abundant and widespread as macroscopic fragments and virtually ubiquitous as microplastic particles; these are dispersed by both physical and biological processes, not least via the food chain and the 'faecal express' route from surface to sea floor. Already a widespread and distinctive lithological component of strata, the amount of plastics seems likely to grow several-fold over the next few decades, and to continue to be input into the sedimentary cycle over coming millennia as temporary stores -landfill sites -are eroded. Plastics already enable fine time resolution within Anthropocene deposits via the development of its different types and via the artefacts ('technofossils') it is moulded into, and many of these may have long-term preservation potential if buried in strata.

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Section: Lakes and Riversmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Lakes and Riversmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Nearshore Marinementioning

confidence: 99%

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The geological cycle of plastics and their use as a stratigraphic indicator of the Anthropocene

Zalasiewicz

Waters

Sul³

et al. 2016

Anthropocene

706

286

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“…Thus, macroplastics will breakdown into microplastics, and these will further break down into nanoplastics. Their abundance and production rates will depend on environmental characteristics and polymer type [4,23,84,91,95], making secondary MNP input to oceans harder to trace, quantify and control than primary sources.…”

Section: Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Micro- and Nanoplastic Pollution of Freshwater and Wastewater Treatment Systems

Blair

Waldron

Phoenix

et al. 2017

Springer Science Reviews

132

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Plastic waste is a widespread and persistent global challenge with negative impacts on the environment, economy, human health and aesthetics. Plastic pollution has been a focus of environmental research over the past few decades, particularly in relation to macroplastics that are easily visible by the naked eye. More recently, smaller plastic waste at the micro-and nanoscale has become of increasing concern, resulting in extensive investment in research to advance knowledge on the sources, distribution, fate and impact of these materials in aquatic systems. However, owing to their small sizes and a lack of unified methods, adequate quantitative and qualitative assessment has been difficult. Furthermore, most of the microplastic surveys available to date have focussed in the marine environment while scarce knowledge exists of freshwater systems. Because the majority of marine debris originates on land, the role of wastewater treatment systems and natural fluvial vectors in delivering these emerging contaminants to the environment should be explored. Considering fundamental aspects pertaining to microplastic sources, distribution, mobility and degradation in these systems is crucial for developing effective control measures and strategies to mitigate the discharge of these particles to the sea.

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“…Accordingly, plastics are considered one indicator of the Anthropocene [1]. Plastic has for some time been known to be a major component of riverine pollution [2][3][4][5][6], and plastic degradation products have been noted as a potential issue for soil environments [7]. However, up until recently the main focus of research on plastic pollution has been the marine environment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microplastics Are Contaminants of Emerging Concern in Freshwater Environments: An Overview

Lambert

Wagner

2017

The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry

214

137

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In recent years, interest in the environmental occurrence and effects of microplastics (MPs) has shifted towards our inland waters, and in this chapter we provide an overview of the issues that may be of concern for freshwater environments. The term 'contaminant of emerging concern' does not only apply to chemical pollutants but to MPs as well because it has been detected ubiquitously in freshwater systems. The environmental release of MPs will occur from a wide variety of sources, including emissions from wastewater treatment plants and from the degradation of larger plastic debris items. Due to the chemical makeup of plastic materials, receiving environments are potentially exposed to a mixture of microand nano-sized particles, leached additives, and subsequent degradation products, which will become bioavailable for a range of biota. The ingestion of MPs by aquatic organisms has been demonstrated, but the long-term effects of continuous exposures are less well understood. Technological developments and changes in demographics will influence the types of MPs and environmental concentrations in the future, and it will be important to develop approaches to mitigate the input of synthetic polymers to freshwater ecosystems.

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The degradation of plastic litter in rivers: Implications for beaches

Cited by 105 publications

References 7 publications

The geological cycle of plastics and their use as a stratigraphic indicator of the Anthropocene

The geological cycle of plastics and their use as a stratigraphic indicator of the Anthropocene

Micro- and Nanoplastic Pollution of Freshwater and Wastewater Treatment Systems

Microplastics Are Contaminants of Emerging Concern in Freshwater Environments: An Overview

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