JPI Oceans - Mikroplast - WEATHER-MIC - NGI - How microplastic weathering changes its transport, fate and toxicity in the marine environm
Informations
- Funding country
Norway- Acronym
- -
- URL
- -
- Start date
- 1/1/2016
- End date
- 12/31/2019
- Budget
- 222,876 EUR
Fundings
| Name | Role | Start | End | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marine Resources and the Environment (MARINFORSK) - call 2016 | Grant | - | - | 222,876 EUR |
Abstract
Our ocean receives large quantities of plastic from rivers, landfills and sewage treatment plants amongst other sources. This plastic is often fragmented into so-called microplastic, often too small to see with the naked eye. The WEATHER-MIC research project investigated the processes controlling the transport, fate and toxicity of microplastic, as it is weathered by sunlight, bacteria, wave motion, changing temperatures, and other processes. Weathering was found to be an essential factor to take into consideration when assessing the fate and hazards arising from plastic pollution in the environment. The most important weathering processes are those which either affect 1) the particle size distribution or 2) the leaching of hazardous additives. Regarding particle size distribution, important processes are biofilm-assisted aggregation of all size fractions to facilitate marine snow formation or ingestion by organisms; another is fragmentation to smaller particles that can occur rapidly in areas with heavy turbulence and lots of sunlight, like coastal areas. Further research on deep sea sediments and deep in the water column is needed, as many fate processes end with sediment accumulation, alongside colloidal microplastics accumulating in the water column. Regarding the leaching of hazardous additives, their ingestion or exposure to marine life are central to our understanding, because the chemicals in plastic are what differs them from natural particles. Thus far, chemical additives to plastic were found to be substantially more hazardous than the chemicals made from the degradation of the polymers themselves. Therefore, plastics from electronic products, which contain many additives, are more hazardous than pure plastics from food packaging, which contain little additives. Our recommendations for further research is to used field-weathered material containing known amounts of additives, and at environmentally relevant levels, in different settings, particularly at emission hot spots like coastal zones and riverine outflow areas. This will further improve the accuracy of risk assessment of plastic pollution for specific sites and conditions.