Latest reports and news stories about plastic in the sea:
Thanks to Fabiano of www.globalgarbage.org for keeping us well informed.
Teresa Rocha-Santos, Armando C. Duarte, A critical overview of the analytical approaches to the occurrence, the fate and the behavior of microplastics in the environment, TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry, Available online 11 December 2014, ISSN 0165-9936,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.trac.2014.10.011.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165993614002556)
Abstract: Plastics can be found in food packaging, shopping bags, and household items, such as toothbrushes and pens, and facial cleansers. Due to the high disposability and low recovery of discharged materials, plastics materials have become debris accumulating in the environment. Microplastics have a dimension <5 mm and possess physico-chemical properties (e.g., size, density, color and chemical composition) that are key contributors to their bioavailability to organisms. This review addresses the analytical approaches to characterization and quantification of microplastics in the environment and discusses recent studies on their occurrence, fate, and behavior. This critical overview includes a general assessment of sampling and sample handling, and compares methods for morphological and physical classification, and methodologies for chemical characterization and quantification of the microplastics. Finally, this review addresses the advantages and the disadvantages of these techniques, and comments on future applications and potential research interest within this field.
Keywords: Debris; Detection; Environment; Marine environment; Microplastic; Plastic; Sampling; Seawater; Sediment; Water
Note to users: Accepted manuscripts are Articles in Press that have been peer reviewed and accepted for publication by the Editorial Board of this publication. They have not yet been copy edited and/or formatted in the publication house style, and may not yet have the full ScienceDirect functionality, e.g., supplementary files may still need to be added, links to references may not resolve yet etc. The text could still change before final publication.
Although accepted manuscripts do not have all bibliographic details available yet, they can already be cited using the year of online publication and the DOI, as follows: author(s), article title, Publication (year), DOI. Please consult the journal’s reference style for the exact appearance of these elements, abbreviation of journal names and use of punctuation.
When the final article is assigned to an volumes/issues of the Publication, the Article in Press version will be removed and the final version will appear in the associated published volumes/issues of the Publication. The date the article was first made available online will be carried over.
http://www.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fmars.2014.00070/full
Reisser J, Proietti M, Shaw J and Pattiaratchi C (2014) Ingestion of plastics at sea: does debris size really matter? Front. Mar. Sci. 1:70. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2014.00070
Keywords: microplastics, marine debris, plastic ingestion, zooplankton grazing, copepods
http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fmars.2014.00070/pdf
http://www.biogeosciences-discuss.net/11/16207/2014/bgd-11-16207-2014.html
Reisser, J., Slat, B., Noble, K., du Plessis, K., Epp, M., Proietti, M., de Sonneville, J., Becker, T., and Pattiaratchi, C.: The vertical distribution of buoyant plastics at sea, Biogeosciences Discuss., 11, 16207-16226, doi:10.5194/bgd-11-16207-2014, 2014.
Abstract. Millimeter-sized plastics are numerically abundant and widespread across the world’s ocean surface. These buoyant macroscopic particles can be mixed within the upper water column due to turbulent transport. Models indicate that the largest decrease in their concentration occurs within the first few meters of water, where subsurface observations are very scarce. By using a new type of multi-level trawl at 12 sites within the North Atlantic accumulation zone, we measured concentrations and physical properties of plastics from the air–seawater interface to a depth of 5 m, at 0.5 m intervals. Our results show that plastic concentrations drop exponentially with water depth, but decay rates decrease with increasing Beaufort scale. Furthermore, smaller pieces presented lower rise velocities and were more susceptible to vertical transport. This resulted in higher depth decays of plastic mass concentration (mg m−3) than numerical concentration (pieces m−3). Further multi-level sampling of plastics will improve our ability to predict at-sea plastic load, size distribution, drifting pattern, and impact on marine species and habitats.
Review Status
This discussion paper is under review for the journal Biogeosciences (BG).
http://www.biogeosciences-discuss.net/11/16207/2014/bgd-11-16207-2014.pdf
Rui P. Vieira, Isabel P. Raposo, Paula Sobral, Jorge M.S. Gonçalves, Katherine L.C. Bell, Marina R. Cunha, Lost fishing gear and litter at Gorringe Bank (NE Atlantic), Journal of Sea Research, Available online 13 October 2014, ISSN 1385-1101, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.seares.2014.10.005.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1385110114001774)
Abstract: Studies concerning marine litter have received great attention over the last several years by the scientific community mainly due to their ecological and economic impacts in marine ecosystems, from coastal waters to the deep ocean seafloor. The distribution, type and abundance of marine litter in Ormonde and Gettysburg, the two seamounts of Gorringe Bank, were analyzed from photo and video imagery obtained during ROV-based surveys carried out at 60–3015 m depths during the E/V Nautilus cruise NA017. Located approximately 125 nm southwest of Portugal, Gorringe Bank lays at the crossroad between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean and is therefore characterized by an intense maritime traffic and fishing activities. The high frequency of lost or discarded fishing gear, such as cables, longlines and nets, observed on Gorringe Bank suggests an origin mostly from fishing activities, with a clear turnover in the type of litter (mostly metal, glass and to a much lesser extent, plastic) with increasing depth. Litter was more abundant at the summit of Gorringe Bank (ca. 4 items·km− 1), decreasing to less than 1 item·km− 1 at the flanks and to ca. 2 items·km− 1 at greater depths. Nevertheless, litter abundance appeared to be lower than in continental margin areas. The results presented herein are a contribution to support further actions for the conservation of vulnerable habitats on Gorringe Bank so that they can continue contributing to fishery productivity in the surrounding region.
Keywords: Marine Litter; Fisheries; Impacts; Gorringe Bank; NE Atlantic; Seamounts
Note to users: Corrected proofs are Articles in Press that contain the authors’ corrections. Final citation details, e.g., volume and/or issue number, publication year and page numbers, still need to be added and the text might change before final publication.
Although corrected proofs do not have all bibliographic details available yet, they can already be cited using the year of online publication and the DOI , as follows: author(s), article title, Publication (year), DOI. Please consult the journal’s reference style for the exact appearance of these elements, abbreviation of journal names and use of punctuation.
When the final article is assigned to an volumes/issues of the Publication, the Article in Press version will be removed and the final version will appear in the associated published volumes/issues of the Publication. The date the article was first made available online will be carried over.
http://www.ivm.vu.nl/en/Images/Plastic%20ingredients%20in%20Cosmetics%2007-2014%20FINAL_tcm53-409859.pdf
Review of Microplastics in Cosmetics
Scientific background on a potential source of plastic particulate marine litter to support decision-making
H.A. Leslie, PhD
http://www.americanchemistry.com/Media/PressReleasesTranscripts/ACC-news-releases/Global-Plastics-Meeting.html
World’s Plastics Associations Promote Sustainability and Resource Recovery, and Renew Commitments to Marine Litter Solutions
ACC Contact: Jennifer Killinger (202) 249-6619
E-mail: jennifer_killinger@americanchemistry.com
PlasticsEurope Contact: Hanane Taidi, 32 2 676 17 40
E-mail: hanane.taidi@plasticseurope.org
PPIA Contact: Peter T. Quintana
E-Mail: secretariat.ppia@gmail.com
“World’s Plastics Associations Renew Commitments to Improve Sustainability”
Manila (December 12, 2014) – At the 25th annual Global Meeting on Plastics and Sustainability, held in Manila, Philippines (Dec. 8 – 10), executives from the world’s leading plastics associations met to discuss and advance sustainability, and to promote solutions to plastic waste management and marine debris. At the meeting, delegates noted strong progress and growth in activities undertaken as part of the Declaration of the Global Plastics Associations for Solutions on Marine Litter. Under that program, 60 associations from more than 30 countries have launched 185 separate projects to combat plastic marine debris.
At the meeting, participants also discussed strategies to address sustainability by improving the collection, recycling and recovery of energy from used plastics. Delegates heard from Doug Woodring of the NGO Ocean Recovery Alliance, who challenged the industry to work with other stakeholders and to deploy new technologies to better understand where litter is entering our rivers and waterways.
In addition to leading Philippine companies, meeting participants included plastics associations from the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, Brazil, the Gulf, Europe, South Africa, and the United States, who analyzed current projects to prevent litter and increase recycling of plastic.
http://www.earthcarers.org.au/blog/article/plasticfree-summer-festival-1617-jan-2015/127/
Plastic-Free Summer Festival (16&17 Jan 2015)
Friday 12th of December 2014
Did you know over five trillion pieces of plastic are floating in our oceans according to the most comprehensive study to date on plastic pollution around the world? It’s not just a problem overseas but also around Australia’s coastlines, and the sources are alarming.
Marine biologist Dr Jennifer Lavers has studied seabirds around the world, in particular looking at the impact of ingesting this plastic. As seen on the ABC Catalyst program Dr Lavers is a lead scientist looking at the impacts plastic pollution is having on wildlife in our oceans. Find out more about the problem, discuss solutions and be part of the change needed.
Organised by the WMRC Earth Carers, the City of Fremantle, Fremantle BID and the Town of Cottesloe this free 2 day community festival offers events for all ages.
http://www.marlisco.eu/news-detail.en/items/marlisco-e-course-about-marine-litter-second-edition.html
MARLISCO e-course about Marine Litter – second edition
2014-12-11 20:21
The second edition of the MARLISCO electronic course about marine litter, “Know, feel, act! to stop Marine Litter”, has been launched. It will run from the 09/01/2015 to the 20/01/2015.
The course is based on the educational material “Know, feel, act! to stop Marine Litter”, a MARLISCO product to be translated and applied in 15 countries by 2015. It contains 17 educational activities examining the characteristics, sources, effects and possible ways to tackle the problem, addressing it from an environmental, societal, cultural and economic point of view. It has been designed to primarily serve middle school level, but can be used also by educators outside the formal schooling system. The e-course serves as a substitute for a 1.5 day face-to-face seminar aiming to train participants on effective ways of teaching about marine litter issues.
http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2014/s4147069.htm
Scientists warn nearly 270,000 tonnes of plastic may be floating in world’s oceans
Stephanie Smail reported this story on Thursday, December 11, 2014 18:36:00
MARK COLVIN: It’s floating on the surface, bobbing just under the waves, strangling seabirds and killing fish. It’s plastic in the ocean, and a new study says there’s nearly 270,000 tonnes of it.
International scientists have counted and weighed tiny pieces of plastic, and bigger pieces like plastic bottles and six-pack holders, for the past six years.
Their research has found plastic pollution isn’t just a problem in the well-known garbage patches in remote areas. It’s also lurking close to coastlines, as Stephanie Smail reports.
http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/news/audio/pm/201412/20141211-pm07-plasticsea.mp3
http://www.abc.net.au/environment/articles/2014/12/11/4146817.htm
No part of the ocean untouched by plastic rubbish
BY CHRISTOPHER DOYLE
ABC Environment 11 DEC 2014
A new study has found that plastic rubbish reaches into almost every corner of the ocean.
VIRTUALLY NO PART of the ocean surface remains untouched by plastic debris, a team of international scientists has found.
Nearly 269,000 tonnes of plastic debris is floating on the surface of the world’s oceans, with some of it occurring in some of the most remote regions of the planet, the scientists report today in the open-access journal PLoS One.
“There are areas of the ocean that have very little plastic, but I don’t think you will find plastic-free seas anywhere in the world today,” said Dr Marcus Eriksen, lead author of the study and Director of Research for the 5 Gyres Institute.
http://www.americanchemistry.com/Media/PressReleasesTranscripts/ACC-news-releases/Americas-Plastics-Makers-Support-Calls-to-Address-Litter-in-Worlds-Oceans.html
America’s Plastics Makers Support Calls to Address Litter in World’s Oceans
Contact: Jennifer Killinger (202) 249-6619
Email: jennifer_killinger@americanchemistry.com
WASHINGTON (December 10, 2014) – The Five Gyres Institute today released a study that estimates the quantities of plastics in the world’s oceans (“Plastic Pollution in the World’s Oceans: More than 5 Trillion Plastic Pieces Weighing over 250,000 Tons Afloat at Sea”).
The American Chemistry Council (ACC) issued the following statement:
“America’s plastics makers wholeheartedly agree that littered plastics of any kind do not belong in the marine environment. Every day, plastics contribute to sustainability by enabling us to reduce, reuse, recycle, and recover more of the resources that we rely on—and by helping to lower energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. Even after plastics have fulfilled their initial purpose, these materials should be treated as valuable resources and recycled whenever possible or recovered for their energy value when they cannot.
“Recent multi-stakeholder efforts to develop solutions for marine litter—including a brochure (2014) produced by the Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection (GESAMP, an advisory group to the United Nations) and the Honolulu Strategy (2011)—have highlighted the importance of using modern, integrated waste management infrastructure and practices to combat marine litter throughout the globe. This includes recycling and energy recovery, and the American Chemistry Council’s Plastics Division and its member companies support these recommendations.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/12/10/good-job-humans-the-ocean-now-contains-5-trillion-pieces-of-floating-plastic/
Good job, humans: The oceans now contain 5 trillion pieces of floating plastic
By Chris Mooney December 10
A major new study of the world’s oceans has reached a shocking conclusion: Thanks to humans, there are now over 5 trillion pieces of plastic, weighing more than 250,000 tons, floating in water around the world.
With a global population of about 7.2 billion, that’s nearly 700 pieces per person.
The study, published in the journal PLOS One by Marcus Eriksen of the Five Gyres Institute in Los Angeles and a large group of colleagues, is based on data from 24 separate ocean expeditions, conducted between 2007 and 2013, to sample plastic pollution. Plastic was either observed from boats, or hauled up from the ocean by nets, in 1,571 locations. The data were then used to run an ocean model to simulate the amount and distribution of plastic debris.
The result not only yielded the estimate of over 5 trillion pieces of plastic in the global ocean — it also cast light on how plastic changes within the ocean (breaking down into smaller pieces) and circulates around the globe. Pieces between 1 millimeter and 4.75 millimeters in size were by far the most prevalent class of plastic in the ocean. However, by weight, really large pieces of plastic, greater than 200 millimeters in size, were the most significant.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/11/science/new-research-quantifies-the-oceans-plastic-problem.html
Study Gauges Plastic Levels in Oceans
By JOHN SCHWARTZ DEC. 10, 2014
It is no secret that the world’s oceans are swimming with plastic debris — the first floating masses of trash were discovered in the 1990s. But researchers are starting to get a better sense of the size and scope of the problem.
A study published Wednesday in the journal PLOS One estimated that 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic, large and small, weighing 269,000 tons, could be found throughout the world’s oceans, even in the most remote reaches.
The ships conducting the research traveled the seas collecting small bits of plastic with nets and estimated worldwide figures from their samples using computer models. The largest source of plastic by weight comes from discarded fishing nets and buoys, said Marcus Eriksen, the leader of the effort and co-founder of the 5 Gyres Institute, a nonprofit group that combines scientific research with antipollution activism.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/dec/10/full-scale-plastic-worlds-oceans-revealed-first-time-pollution
Full scale of plastic in the world’s oceans revealed for first time
Over five trillion pieces of plastic are floating in our oceans says most comprehensive study to date on plastic pollution around the world
Oliver Milman
Wednesday 10 December 2014 19.00 GMT
More than five trillion pieces of plastic, collectively weighing nearly 269,000 tonnes, are floating in the world’s oceans, causing damage throughout the food chain, new research has found.
Data collected by scientists from the US, France, Chile, Australia and New Zealand suggests a minimum of 5.25tn plastic particles in the oceans, most of them “micro plastics” measuring less than 5mm.
The volume of plastic pieces, largely deriving from products such as food and drink packaging and clothing, was calculated from data taken from 24 expeditions over a six-year period to 2013. The research, published in the journal PLOS One, is the first study to look at plastics of all sizes in the world’s oceans.
Large pieces of plastic can strangle animals such as seals, while smaller pieces are ingested by fish and then fed up the food chain, all the way to humans.
http://time.com/3628392/microbead-ban-states/
Environmentalists Go to Battle Over Face Wash
Katy Steinmetz @katysteinmetz
Dec. 10, 2014
Environmentalists are hoping a landmark report about how much plastic is in the world’s oceans will help get bans on small plastics passed
Face washes claiming to be “blackhead erasers” or “superfruit scrubs” may seem appealing for scrubbing your way to a fresh new face, but some of them also contain an ingredient that environmental advocates and lawmakers are trying to ban. Tiny, round bits of plastic known as microbeads, no bigger than a grain of couscous, may pose hazards in the natural world.
These little orbs, introduced to replace harsher exfoliants like pumice, are so small that after they’re washed down the sink or tub, they sneak through sifters at water treatment plants and end up in the ocean and other bodies of water. Once in the ocean, researchers have found, these plastics act like sponges for toxins, and can be accidentally ingested by fish, thus ending up in the food chain.
Several states considered bills to ban microbeads last session, but only Illinois passed a law, becoming the first state to do so. Now lawmakers in at least three states are gearing up for another go in 2015.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-28/autopsy-finds-plastic-bag-in-dolphin-stomach/5926650
Autopsy finds plastic bag in dolphin’s stomach after failed rescue
By Nonee Walsh
Posted 28 Nov 2014, 7:34am
A dolphin rescued off Sydney’s northern beaches earlier this week has been euthanased after becoming stranded for a second time.
It took six men to refloat the three-metre Risso’s dolphin after they found it in trouble on Curl Curl Beach on Monday.
The mature female dolphin went back out to sea but became stranded again at Kurnell, in Sydney’s south, on Tuesday evening.
An autopsy performed at Taronga Zoo revealed a plastic bag was blocking its stomach, Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia (ORRCA) president Ronnie Ling said.