Plastic particle water pollution

A handful of nurdles, spilled from a train in Pineville, Louisiana in the United States.

Plastic particles are an increasing cause of water pollution. The particles include nurdles, microbeads from cosmetics products and the breakdown products of plastic litter. Nurdles are pre-production plastic resin pellet typically under 5 mm (0.20 in) in diameter found outside of the typical plastics manufacturing stream. Pellets are an intermediate good used to produce plastic final products.^[1] "Mermaid's tears" is a term sometimes used to describe the pollution.^[2]

Approximately 60 billion pounds (27 million tonnes) of nurdles are manufactured annually in the United States.^[3] One pound of pelletized HDPE contains approximately 25,000 nurdles (approximately 20 mg per nurdle).

Environmental impact

Nurdles are a major contributor to marine debris. During a three month study of Orange County beaches researchers found them to be the most common beach contaminant.^[4] Nurdles comprised roughly 98% of the beach debris collected in a 2001 Orange County study.^[5] Waterborne nurdles may either be a raw material of plastic production, or from larger chunks of plastic that have been ground down.^[6] A major source of plastic may be the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a growing collection of marine debris known for its high concentrations of plastic litter.

Nurdles that escape from the plastic production process into waterways or oceans have become a significant source of ocean and beach pollution. Marine life is severely threatened by these small pieces of plastic: the creatures that make up the base of the marine food chain, such as krill, are prematurely dying by choking on nurdles.^[7] Nurdles have frequently been found in the digestive tracts of various marine creatures, causing physiological damage by leaching plasticizers such as phthalates. Nurdles can carry two types of micropollutants in the marine environment: native plastic additives and hydrophobic pollutants absorbed from seawater.^{[citation needed]} Concentrations of PCBs and DDE on nurdles collected from Japanese coastal waters were found to be up to 1 million times higher than the levels detected in surrounding seawater.^[8]

Plastic microbeads used in cosmetic exfoliating products are also found in water.

See also

• Biodegradable plastics
• Endocrine disruptors
• Great Pacific Garbage Patch
• Microplastics

References

1. ^ "What's a nurdle?". 7 November 2006. Archived from the original on 2009-12-21. http://www.webcitation.org/5mCCdKBcf. Retrieved 2009-12-21. 
2. ^ Ayre, Maggie (7 December 2006). "Plastics 'poisoning world's seas'". BBC Online (BBC). http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6218698.stm. Retrieved 17 August 2010. 
3. ^ Heal the Bay | The Pacific Protection Initiative | AB 258: Nurdles
4. ^ Moore, Charles (2002). "A comparison of neustonic plastic and zooplankton abundance in southern California’s coastal waters and elsewhere in the North Pacific". Algalita Marine Research Foundation. http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Ocean/Marine-Debris-Panel30oct02.htm. 
5. ^ "Adopted Marine Debris Resolution"
6. ^ Ayre, Maggie (2006-12-07). "Plastics 'poisoning world's seas'". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6218698.stm. Retrieved 2010-05-20. 
7. ^ Weisman, Alan (July 10, 2007). "9". The World Without Us. Thomas Dunne Books. ISBN 978-0312347291. 
8. ^ Mato Y: "Plastic resin pellets as a transport medium for toxic chemicals in the marine environment", "Environmental Science & Technology" 35(2), pages 318-324, 2001

Further reading

• Moore, C; S Moore, M Leecaster, S Weisberg (2001). "A Comparison of Plastic and Plankton in the North Pacific Central Gyre". Marine Pollution Bulletin 42 (12): 1297–1300. doi:10.1016/S0025-326X(01)00114-X. ISSN 0025326X. PMID 11827116. ftp://ftp.sccwrp.org/pub/download/DOCUMENTS/AnnualReports/1999AnnualReport/10_ar11.pdf. 
• Michelle Allsopp, Adam Walters, David Santillo, and Paul Johnston (2006). "Plastic Debris in the World’s Oceans". Netherlands: Greenpeace. http://www.unep.org/regionalseas/marinelitter/publications/docs/plastic_ocean_report.pdf.