Abstract
Millions of tons of plastics enter wild habitats, especially the oceans, every year. Despite extensive efforts, this amount is predicted to increase over in the near future, leading to a catastrophic damage to the environment. Small plastic fragments, including microplastics, are currently widely distributed in different environments and contribute significantly to pollution of the oceans. This problem is particularly poignant in Chile, a country with more than 4,000 km of coastline along the Pacific Ocean home to diverse environments, industrial activities and unique biodiversity. In this review, we compile information regarding microplastics pollution in Chilean environments in terms of transport, distribution and bioaccumulation along the country, societal actions such as environmental policies and education to tackle the plastic problem, and the Trojan effect associated with it. Finally, we identify critical scientific gaps, such as the transport of harmful chemicals and microbial communities associated, and define potential future research directions.
Highlights
The global production of plastics has dramatically increased over the last decade, reaching over 380 million tons per year (Geyer et al, 2017)
Pham et al (2021) demonstrated that microplastics present in wastewater treatment plants harbored both bacterial-biofilms and antibiotics, which can interact and promote the development of antibiotic resistant isolates. These data highlight the role of microplastics in antibiotic resistance, in which bacterial isolates are likely transported through wastewater into marine ecosystems (Bank et al, 2020)
Chile is a country with diverse environments and biota that borders the South Pacific Ocean
Summary
The global production of plastics has dramatically increased over the last decade, reaching over 380 million tons per year (Geyer et al, 2017). Work on the presence of microplastics in marine organisms in Chile by Andrade and Ovando (2017) reported microplastics in stomach contents of southern king crabs (Lithodes santolla), from Nassau bay - Cape horn, Chile (Figure 1B) This remote ecosystem is known to be one of the most pristine areas in the world with a very low human intervention. A lower microfiber content was found, with B. australis, captured near the mouth of the Biobío River, presenting the highest detection frequency of microplastics (70%) These results suggest that marine species living in coastal environments, which are exposed to anthropogenic activities, have a higher propensity to ingest microplastics. This study represents a useful, non-invasive strategy to track plastic pollution in marine mammals’ diet and could be employed as a tool for future monitoring plans
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