object of research plastics Archives - One Earth - One Ocean e. V.

Marine debris in five national parks in Alaska

guenther — Mon, 05 Jun 2017 19:21:32 +0000

L. Polasek, J. Bering, H. Kim, P. Neitlich, B. Pister, M. Terwilliger,
K. Nicolato, C. Turner, T. Jones, Marine debris in five national parks
in Alaska, Marine Pollution Bulletin, Volume 117, Issues 1–2, 15 April
2017, Pages 371-379, ISSN 0025-326X,
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.01.085.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X17301133)
Abstract: Abstract
Marine debris is a management issue with ecological and recreational
impacts for agencies, especially on remote beaches not accessible by
road. This project was implemented to remove and document marine debris
from five coastal National Park Service units in Alaska. Approximately
80 km of coastline were cleaned with over 10,000 kg of debris collected.
Marine debris was found at all 28 beaches surveyed. Hard plastics were
found on every beach and foam was found at every beach except one.
Rope/netting was the next most commonly found category, present at 23
beaches. Overall, plastic contributed to 60% of the total weight of
debris. Rope/netting (14.6%) was a greater proportion of the weight from
all beaches than foam (13.3%). Non-ferrous metal contributed the
smallest amount of debris by weight (1.7%). The work forms a reference
condition dataset of debris surveyed in the Western Arctic and the Gulf
of Alaska within one season.
Keywords: Alaska; Marine debris; National Park Service

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Pollutant content in marine debris and characterization by thermal decomposition

guenther — Mon, 05 Jun 2017 19:10:48 +0000

M.E. Iñiguez, J.A. Conesa, A. Fullana, Pollutant content in marine
debris and characterization by thermal decomposition, Marine Pollution
Bulletin, Volume 117, Issues 1–2, 15 April 2017, Pages 359-365, ISSN
0025-326X, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.02.022.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X17301376)
Abstract: Abstract
Marine debris (MDs) produces a wide variety of negative environmental,
economic, safety, health and cultural impacts. Most marine litter has a
very low decomposition rate (plastics), leading to a gradual
accumulation in the coastal and marine environment. Characterization of
the MDs has been done in terms of their pollutant content: PAHs, ClBzs,
ClPhs, BrPhs, PCDD/Fs and PCBs. The results show that MDs is not a very
contaminated waste. Also, thermal decomposition of MDs materials has
been studied in a thermobalance at different atmospheres and heating
rates. Below 400–500 K, the atmosphere does not affect the thermal
degradation of the mentioned waste. However, at temperatures between 500
and 800 K the presence of oxygen accelerates the decomposition. Also, a
kinetic model is proposed for the combustion of the MDs, and the
decomposition is compared with that of their main constituents, i.e.,
polyethylene (PE), polystyrene (PS), polypropylene (PP), nylon and
polyethylene-terephthalate (PET).
Keywords: Marine debris; Pollutants; Kinetic; Combustion; Decomposition

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More Than 12 Million Pounds of Trash Collected During International Coastal Cleanup

guenther — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 20:58:22 +0000

http://www.oceanconservancy.org/who-we-are/newsroom/2014/more-than-12-million-pounds.html

More Than 12 Million Pounds of Trash Collected During International
Coastal Cleanup

Cleanup across globe produces the highest total amount of trash ever
collected in the event?s 28-year history and serves as a call to action
by Ocean Conservancy

Media Contact:
Cindy Yeast
(202) 236-5413
cdyeast@earthlink.net
Photos and b-roll video available to reporters upon request

May 21, 2014

Washington, DC The total amount of trash picked up during the 28th year
of Ocean Conservancy?s International Coastal Cleanup weighed more than
12 million pounds, the most ever collected in the event?s history,
according to a report on the Cleanup and its data released today. This
new total is an indicator of the tremendous amount of ocean trash found
on shorelines and in the ocean and waterways around the globe.

The data were collected last fall during the 2013 International Coastal
Cleanup, the largest annual volunteer effort aimed at improving the
health of the ocean. While the report and the information it contains is
a celebration of a truly international volunteer effort to rid the
world?s beaches of trash and debris, Ocean Conservancy also is using
this occasion to make a worldwide appeal to find solutions to stopping ?
at its many sources ? the trash that ends up in the ocean.

http://www.oceanconservancy.org/our-work/marine-debris/2014-by-the-numbers.html

INTERNATIONAL COASTAL CLEANUP
2014 Trash Free Seas Report: By the Numbers
A collection of infographics from our 2014 report

http://www.oceanconservancy.org/our-work/international-coastal-cleanup/2014-ocean-trash-index.html

INTERNATIONAL COASTAL CLEANUP
2014 Ocean Trash Index
Download the data collected during the 2013 International Coastal Cleanup.

The Ocean Trash Index presents state-by-state and country-by-country
data about ocean trash collected and tallied by volunteers around the
world on one day each fall during Ocean Conservancy's International
Coastal Cleanup®.

Volunteers have collected data since 1986, and the numbers are used to
raise awareness, identify hotspots for debris or unusual trash events,
and inform policy solutions.

Cleanups alone can?t solve this pollution problem. Nevertheless, the
Ocean Trash Index provides a snapshot of what's trashing our ocean so we
can work to prevent specific items from reaching the water in the first
place.

Want to do more? Join the fight for a healthy ocean by taking the pledge
to help turn the tide on ocean trash.

http://www.oceanconservancy.org/our-work/marine-debris/icc-data-2014.pdf

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The scariest inhabitant of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is not what you think

guenther — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 20:27:02 +0000

http://deepseanews.com/2014/05/the-scariest-inhabitant-of-the-great-pacific-garbage-patch-is-not-what-you-think/

POSTED ON MAY 14, 2014 BY MIRIAM GOLDSTEIN

The scariest inhabitant of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is not what
you think

When you think of terrifying monsters that might inhabit the Great
Pacific Garbage Patch, what do you think of? Mutant sharks? Pissed-off
squid? Rabid barnacles? (Well, ok, probably not rabid barnacles.)

Nope. The scariest inhabitant of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is this.

Meet Halofolliculina. It is a single-celled organism ? a ciliate ? about
the size of a sesame seed with teeny tiny devil horns. (They are
actually pericytostomial wings, not devil horns, but I won?t tell if you
don?t.) My collaborators Hank Carson and Marcus Eriksen found these
little buggers living on plastic debris floating way offshore in the
western Pacific, which wouldn?t be terrifying in itself since a lot of
strange critters live on plastic debris (see our paper for a complete
list). But Halofolliculina is a pathogen that causes skeletal eroding
band disease in corals, and this piece of debris was headed towards Hawaii.

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Rocks Formed From Plastic Found On Beach

guenther — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 20:21:44 +0000

http://www.iflscience.com/environment/rocks-formed-plastic-found-beach

Rocks Formed From Plastic Found On Beach

June 5, 2014 | by Lisa Winter

Every single piece of synthetic plastic that has ever been manufactured
since 1950 is still in existence today, as each one takes thousands of
years to break down. A recent study has indicated that plastic litter
can become fused with rocks and other materials to form a new material:
plastiglomerate. This material could very well become a permanent part
of the geological record, forever marking humanity?s impact on the
world. The results of the report were published in the journal of the
Geological Society of America, GSA Today.

The material has been discovered before, but it wasn?t until it had
washed up on Hawaii?s Kamilo Beach, notorious for its litter, that it
was studied and identified. The discovery of the Hawaii sample was made
by Captain Charles Moore of the research vessel of Alguita as well as
lead author Patricia Corcoran. It is believed that human campfires
melted plastic on the beach, causing it to fuse to shells, coral, and sand.

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An anthropogenic marker horizon in the future rock record

guenther — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 19:44:33 +0000

http://www.geosociety.org/gsatoday/archive/24/6/abstract/i1052-5173-24-6-4.htm

Patricia L. Corcoran, Charles J. Moore, Kelly Jazvac
An anthropogenic marker horizon in the future rock record
GSA Today, v. 24, no. 6, doi: 10.1130/GSAT-G198A.1

ABSTRACT
Recognition of increasing plastic debris pollution over the last several
decades has led to investigations of the imminent dangers posed to
marine organisms and their ecosystems, but very little is known about
the preservation potential of plastics in the rock record. As
anthropogenically derived materials, plastics are astonishingly abundant
in oceans, seas, and lakes, where they accumulate at or near the water
surface, on lake and ocean bottoms, and along shorelines. The burial
potential of plastic debris is chiefly dependent on the material?s
density and abundance, in addition to the depositional environment.
Here, we report the appearance of a new ?stone? formed through
intermingling of melted plastic, beach sediment, basaltic lava
fragments, and organic debris from Kamilo Beach on the island of Hawaii.
The material, herein referred to as ?plastiglomerate,? is divided into
in situ and clastic types that were distributed over all areas of the
beach. Agglutination of natural sediments to melted plastic during
campfire burning has increased the overall density of plastiglomerate,
which inhibits transport by wind or water, thereby increasing the
potential for burial and subsequent preservation. Our results indicate
that this anthropogenically influenced material has great potential to
form a marker horizon of human pollution, signaling the occurrence of
the informal Anthropocene epoch.

http://www.geosociety.org/gsatoday/archive/24/6/pdf/i1052-5173-24-6-4.pdf

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Plastics highly concentrated in Australian waters

guenther — Sat, 15 Mar 2014 15:39:19 +0000

http://www.sciencewa.net.au/topics/fisheries-a-water/item/2674-plastics-highly-concentrated-in-australian-waters.html

Plastics highly concentrated in Australian waters
Thursday, 13 February 2014 10:00

Written By Rebecca Graham

MICROPLASTICS less than 5mm in diameter are contaminating Australia’s
sea surface at a concentration of more than 4000 pieces per square
kilometre, according to research from UWA and CSIRO's Wealth from Oceans
Flagship.

Oceanographer and lead researcher Julia Reisser a PhD candidate at UWA’s
Oceans Institute and School of Environmental Systems Engineering, says
this information is an important step in quantifying the plastic hazards
that threaten Australian species and marine regions.

“The high number of small plastics present in our oceans is a toxic
threat to marine organisms and environments,” she says.

“They contain hazardous ingredients from manufacturing, like Bisphenol
A, as well as pollutants adsorbed from the seawater, which are
bioaccumulated up the marine food chain.

“Until now, we had little idea how much these tiny plastics were present
in Australian waters.”

Ms Reisser conducted sea surface net tows at 57 locations around
Australia, enabling her to collect the characteristics and concentration
of marine plastics in Australian waters.

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Polystyrene Nanoparticles Perturb Lipid Membranes

guenther — Sat, 15 Mar 2014 15:35:08 +0000

http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jz402234c

Giulia Rossi, Jonathan Barnoud, and Luca Monticelli
Polystyrene Nanoparticles Perturb Lipid Membranes
J. Phys. Chem. Lett., 2014, 5 (1), pp 241–246
DOI: 10.1021/jz402234c
Abstract: Polystyrene is abundant in marine debris. Like most synthetic
polymers, it degrades very slowly, producing smaller and smaller
particles easily ingested by wildlife. The presence of plastic
microscopic particles in fish and marine wildlife is massive and well
documented, but its impact on cellular activity is not understood.
Biological activity generally requires interaction with biological
membranes, but this is difficult to study at the molecular scale in
vivo. Here we use coarse-grained molecular simulations to determine the
effect of nanosized polystyrene (PS) particles on the properties of
model biological membranes. We find that PS nanoparticles permeate
easily into lipid membranes. Dissolved in the membrane core, PS chains
alter membrane structure, significantly reduce molecular diffusion, and
soften the membrane. Moreover, PS severely affects membrane lateral
organization by stabilizing raft-like domains. Changes in membrane
properties and lateral organization can severely affect the activity of
membrane proteins and thereby cellular function.
Keywords: lipid membranes; polymers; nanoparticle; coarse-grained
models; molecular dynamics; rafts

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Production, characterization and fuel properties of alternative diesel fuel from pyrolysis of waste plastic grocery bags

guenther — Sat, 15 Mar 2014 15:08:41 +0000

Brajendra K. Sharma, Bryan R. Moser, Karl E. Vermillion, Kenneth M.
Doll, Nandakishore Rajagopalan, Production, characterization and fuel
properties of alternative diesel fuel from pyrolysis of waste plastic
grocery bags, Fuel Processing Technology, Volume 122, June 2014, Pages
79-90, ISSN 0378-3820, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fuproc.2014.01.019.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378382014000290)
Abstract: Pyrolysis of HDPE waste grocery bags followed by distillation
resulted in a liquid hydrocarbon mixture with average structure
consisting of saturated aliphatic paraffinic hydrogens (96.8%),
aliphatic olefinic hydrogens (2.6%) and aromatic hydrogens (0.6%) that
corresponded to the boiling range of conventional petroleum diesel fuel
(#1 diesel 190–290 °C and #2 diesel 290–340 °C).
Characterization of the
liquid hydrocarbon mixture was accomplished with gas chromatography–mass
spectroscopy, infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopies,
size exclusion chromatography, and simulated distillation. No oxygenated
species such as carboxylic acids, aldehydes, ethers, ketones, or
alcohols were detected. Comparison of the fuel properties to the
petrodiesel fuel standards ASTM D975 and EN 590 revealed that the
synthetic product was within all specifications after addition of
antioxidants with the exception of density (802 kg/m3). Notably, the
derived cetane number (73.4) and lubricity (198 μm, 60 °C, ASTM D6890)
represented significant enhancements over those of conventional
petroleum diesel fuel. Other fuel properties included a kinematic
viscosity (40 °C) of 2.96 mm2/s, cloud point of 4.7 °C, flash point of
81.5 °C, and energy content of 46.16 MJ/kg. In summary, liquid
hydrocarbons with appropriate boiling range produced from pyrolysis of
waste plastic appear suitable as blend components for conventional
petroleum diesel fuel.
Keywords: Plastic; Pyrolysis; High-density polyethylene; Fuel; Diesel;
Biodiesel

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Concentration and composition of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in plastic pellets

guenther — Tue, 21 Jan 2014 15:46:09 +0000

Mara Fisner, Satie Taniguchi, Alessandra P. Majer, Márcia C. Bícego, 
Alexander Turra, Concentration and composition of polycyclic aromatic 
hydrocarbons (PAHs) in plastic pellets: Implications for small-scale 
diagnostic and environmental monitoring, Marine Pollution Bulletin, 
Volume 76, Issues 1–2, 15 November 2013, Pages 349-354, ISSN 0025-326X, 
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2013.09.045.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X13005961)
Abstract: Plastic pellets may serve as a carrier of toxic contaminants, 
including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Considering that 
beach morphodynamics and pellet distribution varied along the shore, and 
that contaminant sources may vary on different scales, it is expected 
that this variability is reflected in the concentration and composition 
of contaminants. This hypothesis was tested through a sampling of 
plastic pellets at 30 sites along the shore in Santos Bay (Brazil). The 
total PAH concentrations and the priority PAHs showed high variability, 
with no clear pattern. Their composition differed among the sampling 
sites; some of the compounds represent a potential risk to organisms. 
The sources of contamination, as indicated by the isomer ratios, were 
also variable among sites. The high small-scale spatial variability 
found here has implications for estimating the plastic pellet 
contamination on beaches, since a sample from a single site is unlikely 
to be representative of an entire beach.

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