The estimated environmental impact on the distribution, mass and abundance of plastics in aquatic ecosystems

Abstract

Plastic began to be manufactured on a commercial scale in the 1950s, and people saw its attractive properties as revolutionary. Plastic has proven to be a very attractive product because it is lightweight, water resistant, heat and electric insulating and extremely durable. It is also very cheap to make. The starting ingredient is the less commonly killed organic raw material of petroleum, natural gas, or plant material - an increasingly attractive option as the rage for fossil fuels grows. Consequently, plastic can remain for hundreds of years up to 400 years for its degradability in the environment (unless recycled or incinerated). More than a third of plastic is manufactured for single use, most of which is disposed of in the environment within one year of manufacture. In particular, about 8 million tons enter the oceans each year. The durable nature of plastic is remarkable because even though it is made of organic matter, living things cannot digest and break it - a stark contrast to the waste of food and paper. Plastic debris can be distinguished into macroplastics and microplastics. Furthermore, exposure to heat an solar UV radiation makes the fragments brittle so that they easily crumble producing secondary microplastics forming persistent organic pollutants. In addition, there is a sizable fraction of primary microplastics, e.g. microbeads. These pollutants are found in terrestrial and marine aquatic ecosystems and are considered a serious problem of high environmental impact.