Recent publications include research and reports on plastic pollution in the oceans.  The following are links to the reports:

Plastic Waste Is All At Sea

It’s a global mess created in less than a century. Experts are concerned about the enormous amounts of plastic entering our food chain.

Plastic and Priority Pollutants:  A Multiple Stressor in Aquatic Habitats

“Environmental Science and Technology,”  the author recaps recent studies that delineate how plastics breakdown in aquatic environments, adding carcinogenic and estrogenic monomers that transfer to  vertebrates and invertebrates.

Life in the Plastisphere:  Microbial Communities on Plastic Marine Debris

“Plastic has a longer half-life than most natural floating marine substrates, and a hydrophobic surface that promotes microbial colonization and biofilm formation, differing from autochthonous substrates in the upper layers of the ocean.”

Other studies recently noted by Sea Web include:

• Lusher, A.L., McHugh, M., and Thompson, R.C.  Occurrence of microplastics in the gastrointestinal tract of pelagic and demersal fish from the English Channel.  Marine Pollution Bulletin 67(1-2): 94-99, 2013.  
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  Microplastics are present in marine habitats worldwide and laboratory studies show this material can be ingested, yet data on abundance in natural populations is limited. This study documents microplastics in 10 species of fish from the English Channel. 504 fish were examined and plastics found in the gastrointestinal tracts of 36.5%. All five pelagic species and all five demersal species had ingested plastic. Of the 184 fish that had ingested plastic the average number of pieces per fish was 1.90 ± 0.10. A total of 351 pieces of plastic were identified using FT-IR Spectroscopy; polyamide (35.6%) and the semi-synthetic cellulosic material, rayon (57.8%) were most common. There was no significant difference between the abundance of plastic ingested by pelagic and demersal fish. Hence, microplastic ingestion appears to be common, in relatively small quantities, across a range of fish species irrespective of feeding habitat. Further work is needed to establish the potential consequences.

• Bravo Rebolledo, E.L., van Franeker, J.A., Jansen, O.E., and Brasseur, S.M.J.M.  Plastic ingestion by harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) in The Netherlands.  Marine Pollution Bulletin 67(1-2): 200-202, 2013.
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• Jantz, L.A., Morishige, C.L., Bruland, G.L., and Lepczyk, C.A.  Ingestion of plastic marine debris by longnose lancetfish (Alepisaurus ferox) in the North Pacific Ocean.  Marine Pollution Bulletin 69(1-2): 97-104, 2013.   
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• de Stephanis, R., Giménez, J., Carpinelli, E., Gutierrez-Exposito, C., and Cañadas, A.  As main meal for sperm whales: Plastics debris.  Marine Pollution Bulletin 69(1-2): 206-214, 2013.
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• Bond, A.L. and Lavers, J.L.  Effectiveness of emetics to study plastic ingestion by Leach’s Storm-petrels (Oceanodroma leucorhoa).  Marine Pollution Bulletin 70(1-2): 171-175, 2013.
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• Verlis, K.M., Campbell, M.L., and Wilson, S.P.  Ingestion of marine debris plastic by the wedge-tailed shearwater Ardenna pacifica in the Great Barrier Reef, Australia.  Marine Pollution Bulletin 72(1): 244-249, 2013.
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• Avery-Gomm, S., Provencher, J.F., Morgan, K.H., and Bertram, D.F.  Plastic ingestion in marine-associated bird species from the eastern North Pacific.  Marine Pollution Bulletin 72(1): 257-259, 2013.
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• Anastasopoulou, A., Mytilineou, C., Smith, C. J., and Papadopoulou, K. N.  Plastic debris ingested by deep-water fish of the Ionian Sea (Eastern Mediterranean).  Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers 74: 11-13, 2013.
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• Farrell, P. and Nelson, K.  Trophic level transfer of microplastic: Mytilus edulis (L.) to Carcinus maenas (L.).  Environmental Pollution 177: 1-3, 2013.
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• Wright, S.L., Thompson, R.C., and Galloway, T.S.  The physical impacts of microplastics on marine organisms: A review.  Environmental Pollution 178: 483-492, 2013.
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• Maselko, J., Bishop, G., and Murphy, P.  Ghost fishing in the southeast Alaska commercial Dungeness crab fishery.  North American Journal of Fisheries Management 33(2): 422-431, 2013.
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• Pikesley, S.K. et al.  Here today, here tomorrow: beached timber in Gabon, a persistent threat to nesting sea turtles.  Biological Conservation 162: 127-132, 2013.
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• Cole, M., Lindeque, P., Fileman, E., Halsband, C., Goodhead, R., Moger, J., and Galloway, T.S.  Microplastic ingestion by zooplankton.  Environmental Science & Technology 47(12): 6646-6655, 2013.
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Categories: Condition of Oceans, Great Pacific Trash Island, Microplastics in Ocean, Plastic Pollution, Plastics and marine mammals

Tags: Environment, Environmental Water Woes, microplastics, Ocean Trash, Plastics in Ocean