Science In-Depth

WHAT IS PLASTIC?

WHY WE CAN’T RECYCLE OUR WAY OUT OF THE PROBLEM

And what it was like in China before they closed their borders to recyclables: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/jul/16/plastic-poverty-pollution-china-recycling-dead-zone

OVERVIEW ARTICLES

National Geographic Magazine, June 2018

“more than 40 percent of plastic is used just once…. less than a fifth of all plastic gets recycled globally…. in the US, less than 10% gets recycled…. 9.2 billion tons produced, 6.9 billion tons have become waste…. half the plastic ever manufactured – more than 448 million tons – is disposable, used as packaging to be discarded right away…. researchers have estimated that 5.3 million – 14 million tons each year end up in the ocean from coastal regions…. estimates for how long it would take that plastic to biodegrade range from a minimum of 450 years to never…. on some beaches in Hawaii, as much as 15% of the “sand” is actually microplastics”

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/06/plastic-planet-waste-pollution-trash-crisis/

National Geographic Magazine, May 2019 and NG News, February 2015

“2015 study by Jenna Jambeck found about nine million tons a year washed into the ocean…. most of it is dumped carelessly on land and ends up in rivers, or is dumped in river directly, the majority in Asia…. imagine five plastic grocery bags stuffed with plastic trash, sitting on every foot of coastline around the world – that would correspond to 8.8 million tons, the middle-of-the-road estimate of goes into the ocean ANNUALLY. And by 2025, those five grocery bags are expected to be 10. That would be 155 million tons a year… marine plastics have been ingested with dire consequences by some 700 species of marine wildlife”

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2019/05/microplastics-impact-on-fish-shown-in-pictures/

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/2/150212-ocean-debris-plastic-garbage-patches-science/

PLASTICS AND MARINE LIFE

See plankton ingesting microplastics (at 2:20):

National Geographic, May 2019

“more than 80% of of the 8 million tons of plastic trash that end up in the world’s oceans every year ends originates on land.”

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/05/beach-cleanups-missing-millions-of-plastic-pieces/

World Economic Forum, January 2016

“In a business-as-usual scenario, the ocean is expected to contain 1 tonne of plastic for every 3 tonnes of fish by 2025, and by 2050, more plastics than fish (by weight).”

http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_The_New_Plastics_Economy.pdf

National Geographic Magazine, June 2018

“scientists have found microplastics in 114 aquatic species, and more than half of those end up on our dinner plates”

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/06/plastic-planet-health-pollution-waste-microplastics/

Wired, June 6, 2019

“At some depths, microplastic is swirling in Monterey Bay in concentrations greater than at the surface of the infamous Great Pacific Garbage Patch…. But between 650 and 2,000 feet, the counts skyrocket…. This is one big reason why they’ve scoffed at the idea of the Ocean Cleanup project, which is essentially a giant tube for catching surface plastic…. What is increasingly clear, though, is that few places on Earth seem to left untouched by plastics.”

https://www.wired.com/story/monterey-bay-microplastic/

Science Magazine, May 7, 2004

The first report of how plastics break down in the marine environment into smaller pieces called “microplastics” that have an insidious influence on life in the ocean. In fact, this paper was the first official coining of the term. This was a key paper (along with other contemporaneous research), since up until this point, it had been a bit of a mystery where all the plastic being produced was going.

“microplastics are those smaller than 1/5 inch across. The term was coined by Richard Thompson in a paper in Science in 2004”

http://cleanership.org/reports/lost-at-sea-where-is-all-the-plastic.pdf

Current Environmental Health Reports

Broad survey article looking at microplastics in the marine environment, laws governing their dumping, and implications of the plastic pollution for human health.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6132564/

National Geographic Magazine, June 2018:

“millions of marine animals killed every year – some visibly from fishing nets and six-pack rings. Many more from ingesting microplastics, from zooplankton to whales”

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/06/plastic-planet-waste-pollution-trash-crisis/

National Geographic, February 13, 2005

“marine plastics have been ingested with dire consequences by some 700 species of marine wildlife”

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/2/150212-ocean-debris-plastic-garbage-patches-science/

National Geographic Magazine, May 2019

“some beaches, like the famed Trash Beach in Hawaii are fully covered in plastic trash despite near daily clean-up efforts…. as early as 1970, scientists were finding plastic pellets – the material used to manufacture plastic goods – in the stomachs of fish caught off New England and Great Britain…. meanwhile, fish stocks have fallen by half since 1970”

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/05/newborn-hawaii-beach-already-polluted-with-plastic/

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/kamilo-beach

Environmental Science Technology, August 17, 2017

“researchers have found over 13,000 plastic pieces per gallon of deap-sea Artic water”

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.7b03331

National Geographic, May 2017

“remote, uninhabited Henderson Island in the South Pacific holds the title for the most plastic on Earth per sq mile”

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2017/05/henderson-island-pitcairn-trash-plastic-pollution/

New Yorker, September 16, 2019

“more than a million people, across 22,300 miles of shorelines and waterways around the world, participated in the Ocean Conservancy’s annual International Coastal Cleanup. They collected nearly a hundred million pieces of trash (23.3 million pounds)…. The top item collected was, yet again, the measly cigarette butt (filters contain plastic), followed by food packaging, a $370 billion market in 2020.”

https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/where-does-all-the-plastic-go

AIRBORNE MICROPLASTICS

National Geographic, April 2019

“Microplastics are a new atmospheric pollutant. In southern France, with no known potential source within 60 kms, scientists recorded a daily rate at 4,500 feet in the Pyrenes of 365 microplastic particles per square meter falling from the sky.”

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/04/microplastics-pollution-falls-from-air-even-mountains/

Wired, August 14, 2019

“In its highest concentrations in Bavarian snow, microplastic particles numbered 150,000 per liter. In Arctic snow, the highest sampling was less at 14,000 per liter.”

https://www.wired.com/story/microplastics-are-blowing-into-the-pristine-arctic/

New York Times, April 18, 2019

“We kind of expected to find plastics there, but we certainly were not prepared for the numbers we found,” Mr. Allen said in an interview. “It was astounding: 11,400 pieces of microplastic per square meter per month, on average… we can’t get away from it because it is also in the air.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/18/science/what-are-microplastics.html

Nature, April 15, 2019

We document relative daily counts of 249 fragments, 73 films and 44 fibres per square metre that deposited on the catchment.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-019-0335-5

Scientific American, April 15, 2019

“They found plastic fibers, films and shards, all in a range of sizes. Most of the polymers that turned up in the samples were polystyrene, polyethylene and polypropylene, which are all common in single-use plastic products such as bags and foam food containers.”

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/microplastics-are-blowing-in-the-wind/

Smithsonian, April 16, 2019

“The area around the collection site is sparsely populated, with no major industrial or commercial centers.”

www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/microplastics-found-in-remote-region-frances-pyrenees-180971973/#6popDMGX7picl3VV.99

Hal Open Access Archive

“Two different urban and sub-urban sites. Microplastics were collected continuously with a stainless steel funnel. Samples were then filtered and observed with a stereomicroscope. Fibers accounted for almost all the microplastics collected.”

https://hal-enpc.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01251430/document

FLEECE AND OTHER SYNTHETIC TEXTILES

The Guardian, June 20, 2016

Fibers from synthetic clothing like fleece may be the largest single contributor to plastic pollution in the ocean.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jun/20/microfibers-plastic-pollution-oceans-patagonia-synthetic-clothes-microbeads

Environmental Science Technology, September 6, 2011

a large proportion of microplastic fibers found in the marine environment may be derived from sewage as a consequence of washing of clothes.

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es201811s

HUMAN HEALTH

New York Times, April 18, 2019

“A study published in 2017 found microplastics in 83 percent of tap water samples collected from around the world, including 94 percent of samples from the United States, which had the highest rate of contamination.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/18/science/what-are-microplastics.html

New York Times, April 18, 2019

“A study published last year found a variety of microplastics in stool samples from eight people from Finland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Britain and Austria. Another study estimated that people who frequently eat shellfish could ingest as many as 11,000 pieces of microplastic every year.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/18/science/what-are-microplastics.html

New York Times, October 22, 2018

“researchers looked for microplastics in stool samples of eight people from Finland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, the United Kingdom and Austria. To their surprise, every single sample tested positive for the presence of a variety of microplastics…. One study estimated that people who regularly eat shellfish may be consuming as much as 11,000 plastic pieces per year.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/22/health/microplastics-human-stool.html?module=inline

National Geographic, October 2018

“The average human consumes 2,000 microplastics per year through salt…. 90% of salt tested contained microplastics. The salt produced in Asia had the highest concentrations.”

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2018/10/microplastics-found-90-percent-table-salt-sea-salt/

Food and Drug Administration (FDA), December 18, 2015

“Microbeads are tiny pieces of plastic found in many health and beauty products, including soap and body scrubs…. The Microbead-Free Waters Act of 2015 prohibits the manufacturing, packaging, and distribution of rinse-off cosmetics containing plastic microbeads…. Congress passed this law to address concerns about microbeads in the water supply. After you’ve scrubbed your face or brushed your teeth, the tiny plastic beads go down the drain. The concern is that microbeads may not be filtered through treatment filtration systems and end up in our lakes and oceans, where they may be mistaken for food by small fish and other wildlife.”

https://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/cosmetics-laws-regulations/microbead-free-waters-act-faqs

Environmental Science Technology, May 22, 2017

Survey article on the early science of microplastic pollution and human health.

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.7b00423

PLASTICS IN GENERAL

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association: What are microplastics? (video included)

“those that are less than five millimeters in length (or about the size of a sesame seed) are called “microplastics.”

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/microplastics.html

New York Times, April 18, 2019

“But they can also be much smaller than five millimeters. The fragments found by the Pyrenees study were generally 10 to 300 microns across, with most clocking in at roughly 50 microns, Dr. Allen said. For comparison, a human hair is about 70 microns wide…. “These are invisible atmospheric pollutants””

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/18/science/what-are-microplastics.html

National Geographic, May 2017

“a group of scientists, writing in Nature, has declared that disposable plastic should be considered a hazardous material…. one 2010 estimate found that half the world’s plastic waste was generated by just 5 Asian countries: China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Sri Lanka”

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2017/05/henderson-island-pitcairn-trash-plastic-pollution/

New York Times, March 22, 2018

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch “is four to 16 times bigger than previously thought, occupying an area roughly four times the size of California and comprising an estimated 1.8 trillion pieces of rubbish.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/22/climate/great-pacific-garbage-patch.html?module=inline

New York Times, October 22, 2018

“In the next 60 seconds, people around the world will purchase one million plastic bottles and two million plastic bags.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/22/health/microplastics-human-stool.html?module=inline

New York Times, March 22, 2018

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch “is four to 16 times bigger than previously thought, occupying an area roughly four times the size of California and comprising an estimated 1.8 trillion pieces of rubbish.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/22/climate/great-pacific-garbage-patch.html?module=inline

Geographic, November 2018

most “bioplastic” degrades the same way other plastics do, and can end up as the same microplastic in the marine environment, so they’re not really a solution.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2018/11/are-bioplastics-made-from-plants-better-for-environment-ocean-plastic/

National Geographic, April 2019

1.7 billion metric tonnes of CO2 emitted from plastic manufacture in 2015. If the plastics industry were a country, they’d be the fourth largest emitter, behind China, the US and India.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/04/microplastics-pollution-falls-from-air-even-mountains/

National Geographic Magazine, June 2018:

“half the world’s plastics are made in Asia. 29% in China”

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/06/plastic-planet-waste-pollution-trash-crisis/

The Guardian, March 14, 2019

“Coca Cola alone makes nearly 130 billion bottles a year”

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/mar/14/coca-cola-admits-it-produces-3m-tonnes-of-plastic-packaging-a-year

BIODEGRADEABLE PLASTICS

Environmental Science Technology, February 27, 2015

“In this study, we evaluated the effect of biodegradation-promoting additives on the biodegradation of polyethylene (PE) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Biodegradation was evaluated in compost, anaerobic digestion, and soil burial environments. None of the five different additives tested significantly increased biodegradation in any of these environments. Thus, no evidence was found that these additives promote and/or enhance biodegradation of PE or PET polymers. So, anaerobic and aerobic biodegradation are not recommended as feasible disposal routes for nonbiodegradable plastics containing any of the five tested biodegradation-promoting additives.”

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es504258u

UN Environment Program (UNEP) 2015

“Oxo-degradable polymers do not fragment rapidly in the marine environment (i.e. persist > 2-5 years) and so manufactured items will continue to cause littering problems and lead to undesirable impacts…. On the balance of the available evidence, biodegradable plastics will not play a significant role in reducing marine litter.”

https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/7468/-Biodegradable_Plastics_and_Marine_Litter_Misconceptions,_concerns_and_impacts_on_marine_environments-2015BiodegradablePlasticsAndMarineLitter.pdf.pdf?sequence=3

THE PLASTICS ECONOMY

World Economic Forum, January 2016

“Today, 95% of plastic packaging material value, or $80– 120 billion annually, is lost to the economy after a short first use.”

http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_The_New_Plastics_Economy.pdf

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