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Marine Plastic Pollution

Article · October 2018

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Prabhat Ranjan Aayush Garg

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 Marine Plastic Pollution
Case study as course project for Environmental Management (ES401), IIT Bombay

Aayush Garg 16D170020

Prabhat Ranjan 16D170027

12/10/2018
 1

Index

Index 1

Motivation 2

Introduction 2

Identification of plastic waste 4

Types of plastic waste 4
Origin & Location of marine plastic waste 5

Effects 7
Chemical Pollution 7
Aquatic life 8
Human life 9

Policies and awareness 11

Policies 11
Awareness 13
Innovation 13

Our Views: 14

References: 15

Bibliography: 16
 2

Motivation
With declaring UN theme for World Environmental Day 2018 as “​ Beat Plastic Pollution”
to combat single-use plastic, the large push was identified for combating the plastic
pollution in land. But there is another kind of severe pollution problem created by
plastics which largely gets ignored just because of its non-proximity. The problem is
about marine plastic pollution which has a profound effect on every living organism on
earth. This report is an attempt to provide an overview on current issue, its magnitude,
its implication and future of the marine plastic waste.

1. Introduction
Plastics are most widely used material in the world due to its physical and chemical
properties. But most of the plastic which is manufactured is non-biodegradable and
huge fraction of it ends up in large water bodies eg. Sea and oceans.

The plastic pollution was first introduced in the 1950s and the production worldwide
has grown from 2 ​ million Mt in 1950s to 380 million Mt in 2015 ​per year. The estimated
amount of total plastic produced is 8 billion Mt since 1950, of which 30% is still in use
while 10% are incinerated and a large fraction of 60% has gone into the environment
including oceans. ​[Geyger et al., 2017]
 3

Fig. Global production, use, and the fate of polymer resins, synthetic fibres, and additives (1950 to
2015; in million metric tons).
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318567844_Production_use_and_fate_of_all_plastics_ever_made/figures

This plastic pollution in the marine environment has adverse effects at multiple levels.
Apart from being a threat to marine life plastic pollution also poses many problems for
humans too eg. Formation of POP (Persistent organic pollutant), carrying microbes
from one continent to another. The garbage in the sea is also a huge risk for certain
industries eg. Fishing industry. Today a heavy amount of marine waste is washing up in
the coastlines of countries which is particularly dangerous for the population near
shore. People living on seafood are particularly at a very high risk of exposing to
hazardous chemicals used for the production of plastic and ingested by the marine
organisms.

Overall the problem of marine pollution is getting severe day by day and people all over
the world are taking several initiatives for combating this issues. There are numbers of
commitments, pledges, international laws in place specific to marine plastic pollution.
 4

2. Identification of plastic waste

2.1. Types of plastic waste
2.1.1. Based on size the plastic​: Differentiated into 3 categories

Macro Plastic > 5 mm in size Fishing nets, plastic

bottles, plastic bags,
plastic utensils or any
other visible plastic form.

Microplastic <5 mm to 1nm Primary Microplastic​-

microbeads(from
cosmetic products, textile
industry, fibres) pellets
etc.

Secondary microplastic-
Result of the breakdown
of larger plastic into
smaller pieces due to
sunlight and weather.

Nano Plastic <1nm These are extremely small

plastic fragments.

Table: Different types of plastic in oceans based on their size. ​https://marinedebris.noaa.gov/info/plastic.html

2.1.2. Based on chemical composition

Types Common examples

Polyethylene terephthalate Drinking Bottles

Polyester Cloths

Polyethylene Carry bags

High-density polyethylene Shampoo/Detergent bottles

Polyvinyl chloride PVC plumbing pipes

Polypropylene Straws

Polyamide Bristles of brushes

Polystyrene Food container

 5

2.2. Origin & Location of marine plastic waste

2.2.1. Origin

The largest amount of plastic waste in the sea comes from asian
coastline mainly China and USA. The amount of plastic entering the
sea from the land is largely unknown. The estimate is around 275
million Mt is generated along the coastal countries(2010) from
which 4.8 - 12.7 million Mt enter in the ocean.​[Jambeck et al., 2015].

There is also a huge amount of plastic waste coming from the

rivers too. It is estimated that around 90% of the total river plastic
waste into sea comes from only 10 major rivers around the world (it
includes three major rivers of India - Ganga, Indus, Brahmaputra).
[Schmitt et al., 2017].

Fig. Global map with each country shaded according to the estimated mass of mismanaged plastic
waste [millions of metric tons (MT)] generated in 2010 by populations living within 50 km of the
coast. h​ ttp://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/347/6223/768/F1.large.jpg?width=800&height=600&carousel=1
 6

2.2.2. Location

Majority of the plastic wastes are concentrated at the middle of the

sea due to ocean gyres (Large system of circular ocean currents
formed due to winds and rotation of the earth).

Fig. Major
Ocean Gyres.
Source: Google
 7

Fig. Concentrations of plastic debris in surface waters of the global ocean. Coloured
circles indicate mass concentrations (legend on top right).
http://www.pnas.org/content/111/28/10239

Apart from major ocean gyres, there are high concentrations of plastic found in several
other locations around the world eg. Mediterranean sea, Bay of Bengal etc. [​ Eriksen et al.,
2014].​ Also, low concentrations of plastic are found in the Greenland Sea and Barent Sea
(Arctic). ​[Cozar et al. 2017]​.

3. Effects
3.1. Chemical Pollution

Many kinds of hazardous chemical are used in the manufacturing

processes of the plastic for special properties eg. bacterial resistance.
Also, microplastic could absorb many man-made pollutants including
POPs. Many of these are very hazardous in nature and eg DDT, flame
retardant, PCBs(Polychlorinated Biphenyls) and PAH(Polyaromatic
hydrocarbon) etc. There are several other POPs released in the water
bodies. These chemicals often end up in food web of the organisms,
resulting in biomagnification and breakdown of the food chain.
 8

3.2. Aquatic life

3.2.1. Macroplastic

Nearly all the life forms in the ocean get affected in some way by plastic
pollution. The effects are very highly observed in the organisms which
survive at the upper level in ocean or filter feeders (eg whale).

Since plastic resembles food for most of the organisms, most of the time
it ends up in the gut of aquatic animals like turtles and seabirds. The
ingestion of plastic inside any organism could be both direct and indirect
(eg. feeding on the organism with plastic). Ingestion of plastic material
could severely harm their metabolic activity and reproductive capability.
Dead whales, turtle and birds washed up at the shores gives us a clear
picture of the amount of plastic pollution which had entered and disrupted
the food chain.

Another huge problem is posed due to the entanglement of the organisms

inside the plastic waste, especially inside the discarded fishing
equipments. Since these equipments eg. fishing net, fishing wire etc are
very difficult to avoid, many aquatic animals mostly the large amphibians
get entangled. Since these materials are very strong in nature, it restricts
the growth of the animal and for most of the cases, death occurs.

Fig. Stunted growth due to plastic entanglement. ​Source: Google

 9

3.2.2. Microplastic

Microplastic poses another kind of threat to the organism. It interferes

with the ability to feed, reproduce and growth of the organism. Very fine
microplastic particles can even endup inside the digestive lumens of
animals’ gut. It could also affect the energy uptake for few organisms
which could result in the reproductive impairment. ​[S
​ ussarellu et al. 2016]

Fig. Micro Polystyrene beads of 2 and 6 µm

were observed in the stomach lumen (A and
B) and intestine (C and D) of exposed
oysters but not in the digestive tubules (E).
No beads were observed in control oysters.
ct: conjunctive tissue; ce: ciliated epithelium;
cs: crystalline style; dt: digestive tubule; lu:
lumen; 6 µm: 6-µm polystyrene beads, 2 µm:
2-µm polystyrene beads.

http://www.pnas.org/content/113/9/2430

3.2.3. Nano plastic

Nanoplastics due to their small size can easily pass through the gut of the
animal and could enter inside the circulatory system of an organism, this
could generate an immune response against the foreign particle.
Nanoparticles could very easily travel through the food chain. I could also
enter the brain and induce behavioural disorder. ​[Mattson et al. 2017]

3.3. Human life

3.3.1. Marine Litter

Marine litter which is near the shoreline is very dangerous for human
activity. More shores are getting filled with the garbage from the ocean.
These little apart from containing harmful chemical also contain sharp
objects eg. hypodermic needles, metal scraps, glass pieces etc. These
 10

pose a threat to public health. Most of these materials are contaminated

with dangerous diseases.

The floating garbage also creates a problem of entanglement of any

human, it could result in drowning etc. It is a threat to swimmers.

Entanglement of ship propeler can cause severe damage to the ship and
crew, it could also result in casualties. Also, large floating patches of
garbage create a problem for navigation in the sea and has a threat of
having collision with large floating debris.

3.3.2. Seafood

Marine organisms contain microplastic in their body which when eaten by

human poses a number of problems for health. Eating small fish which are
devoured completely including gut exposes humans to more amount of
microplastic than eating larger fish in which only flesh is eaten. This
exposes human to a number of toxic substances which have potential
health hazards.

Risks due to nanoplastics are also there in which has higher mobility as
compared to microplastics. They could readily enter inside the tissue. Due
to their large surface area to volume ratio, the amount of chemical that it
could adsorb per unit mass is high, which expose the human to a high
concentration of chemicals.

3.3.3. Contaminated littre

Plastic is a very durable material which can travel a large distance on the
ocean without degradation. Only after few hours of submersion in
seawater the microbial films began to grow over the surface of the plastic.
This niche is also suitable for many kinds of organisms. This waste plastic
could then transfer these microbes and parasites to huge distance and
could spread more disease. The marine litter provides more chances of
survival to parasites for travelling large distances. This is a very alarming
situation since a small number of microbes can create a large scale
epidemic. Also, most of the plastic waste generated on land before
reaching the sea passes through the sewage which is highly polluted and
 11

hence contributes significantly to the contamination. These diseases are

also prevalent in marine creatures which are a threat to the aquaculture
industry. ​[Zettler et al. 2013]

4. Policies and awareness

4.1. Policies

All over the world Government took various measures and implemented
policies so as to reduce the usage of single use plastics(plastic bags).

Some countries implemented taxes on manufacturers and also in retail

stores which used single-use plastic bags.

Countries like the USA, Australia and UK imposed some form of ban
(partial/full).

European countries imposed a fee on plastic bags and kept revising it at

different intervals. Germany and Denmark banned plastic bags as early as
1991 and 1994. Countries in Asia, Africa and remaining Europe on
imposing ban and levies on plastic bag consumptions.

Whether these bans were successful or not is a story in itself. Across

continents of North and South America plastics were banned or levied
only on few places.

Developing countries with coastal borders like India and China had the
most contribution towards plastic pollution in waters. Ban in the state of
Maharashtra in India is a recent example. Ban imposed in Chinese
markets has shown a significant decrease in plastic usage and
production. A similar ban in some parts of Australia also showed similar
effects. There are still some countries where no laws have been passed
for ex. New Zealand.
 12

Fig. ​. ​Plastic bags banned​ ​Taxes on some plastic bags​ ​Taxes on some
plastic bags;​ ​Microbead policies: Primary source of Microbeads pollution is
through cosmetics and exfoliators. The beads from the wastewater due lack of
treatment go to the oceans through drains. These are then ingested by aquatic
animals and microorganisms and enter our food chain. Although there less
intervention against microbeads but some countries in europe like Netherlands
etc. are serious and has expressed their goal of microbead free cosmetics. Inn
west US and Canada are also acting towards microbead free cosmetics

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X17301650#bb0425
 13

Fig. Global acts against plastic and beads against time.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X17301650#bb0425

4.2. Awareness

With such problem ahead of us a collective action of recycling and

reducing the use of plastic should be taken. Awareness among the
common people is the main factor in reducing the use of plastic products.

One such example is the public support to ban the Microbeads and is
acted on by big companies, NGOs and policymakers. Some of the states in
the US and Canada have either regulated or banned microbeads.
Combined efforts of the public have resulted in successful beach
clean-ups, education and awareness outreach.

4.3. Innovation

The Ocean CleanUp-It is one of the largest projects to collect trash from
the ‘Great Pacific Garbage Patch’.

The Ocean Cleanup is developing an autonomous system, which uses

ocean currents to collect plastic, moving in the same direction as plastic.
The Collector due to wind and waves moves faster than the plastic and
hence captures the plastic. The collected material can be recycled and
converted to useful products, selling that would would make the project
self-sustainable.
 14

Source: ​https://www.theoceancleanup.com/

5. Our Views:
The current scenario of marine pollution is very alarming. Although there are
many rules and policies in place to gain control over these situations, but it
doesn’t seem very effective. The continuous inflow of garbage in the sea is
constantly increasing, and with unavailability of landfill more and more countries
will be switching to ocean dumping as their last resort.

Many countries have taken steps and pledge to cut down the plastic pollution in
oceans but at the same time, there are several countries including developed
nations eg. New Zealand and Sweden don’t have any kind of policy in place. We
need a stricter international law regarding this issue.

We need more research in this field. The effects of the pollution on the sea had
not been quantified very accurately.

Further, we need a collective consciousness about this issue. Since the ocean
has no boundaries, hence there should be an active cooperation among the
countries for curbing the issue of marine plastic waste.
 15

6. References:
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Law KL. Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean. Science. 2015 Feb
13;347(6223):768-71.
4) Schmidt C, Krauth T, Wagner S. Export of plastic debris by rivers into the sea.
Environmental science & technology. 2017 Oct 11;51(21):12246-53.
5) Eriksen M, Lebreton LC, Carson HS, Thiel M, Moore CJ, Borerro JC, Galgani F, Ryan
PG, Reisser J. Plastic pollution in the world's oceans: more than 5 trillion plastic
pieces weighing over 250,000 tons afloat at sea. PloS one. 2014 Dec
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