Where are the Missing Plastics at Sea?

Document Type : compile

Author

Department of Marine Science, Iranian National Institute for Oceanography and Atmospheric Science, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

The global load of marine floating plastic litter in surface waters is much smaller than expected based on the loads of mismanaged plastic entering the marine environment. Therefore, identifying marine sinks that hold plastic litter is essential to assessing the risks, impacts, and plan interventions to manage this new facing problem. Recent research has shown that mangrove trees occupy the intertidal fringe and develop a partially emerged root system, pneumatophores as a sieve, forming an effective filter that trap different objects and litters transported by currents, like floating plastic objects. In other words, mangroves act as sinks for marine plastic litter as well as a barrier for anthropogenic debris (entering from land to the sea) before they are dispersed in the marine environment. Furtheremore, some large plastics after released into the environment, might undergo a variety of biotic and abiotic processes through which they become smaller and smaller plastic particles instead of disappearing. These small pieces of plastic particles are called microplastics and are less than 5 mm in size and therefore they are not visible to the naked eye.

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References

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