Global mass of buoyant marine plastics dominated by large long-lived debris

Nature Geoscience, Journal Year: 2023, Volume and Issue: 16(8), P. 689 - 694

Published: Aug. 1, 2023

Abstract The fate of plastics that enter the ocean is a longstanding puzzle. Recent estimates oceanic input plastic are one to two orders magnitude larger than amount measured floating at surface. This discrepancy could be due overestimation estimates, processes removing from surface or fragmentation and degradation. Here we present 3D global marine mass budget buoyant resolves this discrepancy. We assimilate observational data different reservoirs, including coastlines, surface, deep ocean, into numerical model, considering particle sizes 0.1–1,600.0 mm. find (>25 mm) contribute more 95% initially mass: 3,100 out 3,200 kilotonnes for year 2020. Our model an about 500 per year, less previous estimates. Together, our estimated total annual litter suggest there no missing sink pollution. results support higher residence times in environment compared with studies, line evidence. Long-lived pollution world’s oceans, which suggests continuing increase, negatively impact ecosystems without countermeasures prevention strategies.

Language: Английский

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Quantifying microplastic dispersion due to density effects

Journal of Hazardous Materials, Journal Year: 2024, Volume and Issue: 466, P. 133440 - 133440

Published: Jan. 6, 2024

An experimental study was conducted on how polymer density affects the transport and fate of microplastics in aquatic flows. For first time, polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polyetheretherketone (PEEK), polyvinyl chloride (PVC) were chemically stained tested using solute techniques velocities found among rivers natural environment (0.016 – 0.361 m/s). The movement 3D-polymers with densities ranging from 0.9 1.4 g/cm³ quantified a laboratory flume scaled to simulate open-channel flows fluvial systems. Except for PP, most conditions exhibited similar characteristics solutes regardless established models successfully implemented predict their fate. Mass recoveries ADE routing model demonstrated microplastic deposition resuspension associated below critical velocity thresholds ≤ 0.1 m/s. When becomes dominant force at these slower velocities, concentrations denser than water will be momentarily or permanently deposited channel beds follow classical Shields sediment methodology. This data is provide suspension based river density, making key contribution research predicting organismal exposure. Microplastics are emerging contaminants that ubiquitous Given size, have increased bioavailability all organisms can exposed through direct ingestion, indirect ingestion via prey items, respiration. act as pathway disease-carrying pathogens many questions remain toxicity. Microplastic systems unknown thereby which experience aims reduce knowledge gap currently particle properties affect flows, ultimately help remediate impact environment.

Language: Английский

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Influence of Particle Size and Fragmentation on Large-Scale Microplastic Transport in the Mediterranean Sea

Environmental Science & Technology, Journal Year: 2022, Volume and Issue: 56(22), P. 15528 - 15540

Published: Oct. 21, 2022

Microplastic particles move three-dimensionally through the ocean, but modeling studies often do not consider size-dependent vertical transport processes. In addition, microplastic fragmentation in ocean environments remains poorly understood, despite fragments making up majority of pollution terms number and its potential role mass removal. Here, we first investigate particle size density on large-scale microplastics Mediterranean Sea next analyze how may affect loss plastics. For progressively smaller sizes, are shown to be less likely beached more reach open water. Smaller also generally get mixed deeper, resulting lower near-surface concentrations small their higher total abundance. is dominated by beach-based fragmentation, with ocean-based processes having negligible influence. However, a slow process acting decadal time scales as such does have major influence distribution over periods than 3 years.

Language: Английский

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Hotspots of Floating Plastic Particles across the North Pacific Ocean

Environmental Science & Technology, Journal Year: 2024, Volume and Issue: unknown

Published: Feb. 23, 2024

The pollution of the marine environment with plastic debris is expected to increase, where ocean currents and winds cause their accumulation in convergence zones like North Pacific Subtropical Gyre (NPSG). Surface-floating (>330 μm) was collected Ocean between Vancouver (Canada) Singapore using a neuston catamaran identified by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Baseline concentrations 41,600–102,700 items km–2 were found, dominated polyethylene polypropylene. Higher (factors 4–10) occurred not only NPSG (452,800 km–2) but also second area, Papaha̅naumokua̅kea Marine National Monument (PMNM, 285,200 km–2). This maximum neither reported previously nor predicted applied current model. Visual observations floating (>5 cm; 8–2565 34–4941 including smaller "white bits") yielded similar patterns baseline (34–3265 elevated (67–4941 PMNM (295–3748 These findings suggest that are factor provoking ocean. may be useful increase our knowledge large-scale (micro)plastic global oceans.

Language: Английский

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Seasonal dynamics, tidal influences, and anthropogenic impacts on microplastic distribution in the Yangtze River estuary: A comprehensive characterization and comparative analysis

Journal of Hazardous Materials, Journal Year: 2024, Volume and Issue: 476, P. 135167 - 135167

Published: July 14, 2024

Language: Английский

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Complex Release Dynamics of Microplastic Additives: An Interplay of Additive Degradation and Microplastic Aging

Journal of Hazardous Materials, Journal Year: 2025, Volume and Issue: 490, P. 137711 - 137711

Published: Feb. 22, 2025

Language: Английский

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Flocs as vectors for microplastics in the aquatic environment

Nature Water, Journal Year: 2024, Volume and Issue: 2(11), P. 1082 - 1090

Published: Nov. 8, 2024

Abstract Microplastics (MPs) are an important component of suspended particulate matter in aquatic environments with two main transport modes, that is, as individual entities or flocs. Despite its importance to MP pollution management, understanding and predicting flocculation remains a challenge. In this Article, we combined meta-analysis published data (>2,000 measurements) new experimental (>4,000 investigate which size fraction MPs can be incorporated into transported by flocs the environment. The relationship between used predict various environments, have proposed mathematical model show small (<162 µm) predominantly flocs, regardless physicochemical characteristics water body. This provides valuable information modes MPs, presenting critical insight for multiple environmental settings future control strategies.

Language: Английский

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Proximity to coast and major rivers influence the density of floating microplastics and other litter in east African coastal waters

Marine Pollution Bulletin, Journal Year: 2023, Volume and Issue: 188, P. 114644 - 114644

Published: Feb. 8, 2023

Language: Английский

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Efficiently simulating Lagrangian particles in large-scale ocean flows — Data structures and their impact on geophysical applications

Computers & Geosciences, Journal Year: 2023, Volume and Issue: 175, P. 105322 - 105322

Published: March 3, 2023

Studying oceanography by using Lagrangian simulations has been adopted for a range of scenarios, such as the determining fate microplastics in ocean, simulating origin locations microplankton used palaeoceanographic reconstructions, and studying impact fish aggregation devices on migration behaviour tuna. These are complex represent considerable runtime effort to obtain trajectory results, which is prime motivation enhancing performance particle simulators. This paper assesses established techniques from Eulerian simulators light computational conditions demands A enhancement strategy specifically targeting physics-based outlined address gaps, closing gap presented implemented. Realistic experiments derived three specific oceanographic application suggested performance-enhancing benchmarked detail, so allow good attribution speed-up measurements individual techniques. The impacts insights further discussed other geoscience applications. show that I/O-enhancing techniques, dynamic loading buffering, lead on-par with an idealised parallelisation process over 20 nodes. Conversely, while cache-efficient structure-of-arrays collection yields visible speed-up, alternative data structures fail fulfilling theoretically-expected increase. insight demonstrates importance alignment memory caches physics simulations.

Language: Английский

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Low-Density Plastic Debris Dispersion beneath the Mediterranean Sea Surface

Environmental Science & Technology, Journal Year: 2023, Volume and Issue: 57(19), P. 7503 - 7515

Published: May 1, 2023

Plastic is a widespread marine pollutant, with most studies focusing on the distribution of floating plastic debris at sea surface. Recent evidence, however, indicates significant presence such low density in water column and seafloor, but information its origin dispersion lacking. Here, we studied pathways fate sinking Mediterranean Sea, one polluted world seas. We used recent Lagrangian plastic-tracking model, forced realistic parameters, including maximum estimated speed 7.8 m/d. Our simulations showed that locations where particles left surface differed significantly from those they reached lateral transport distances between 119 282 km. Furthermore, 60% deposited bottom coastal strip (20 km wide) were released vessels, 20% facing country, other countries. Theoretical considerations furthermore suggested biological activities potentially responsible for occur throughout column. findings indicate responsibility seafloor pollution shared among countries, potential impact pelagic benthic biota.

Language: Английский

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