Plastic After an Extreme Storm: The Typhoon-Induced Response of Micro- and Mesoplastics in Coastal Waters

Extreme storms, such as tropical cyclones, are responsible for a significant portion of the plastic debris transported from land to sea yet little is known about the storm response of microplastics and other debris in offshore and open waters. To investigate this, we conducted floating plastic surveys in the center of Sagami Bay, Japan approximately 30 km from the coastline, before and after the passage of a typhoon. The concentrations (number of particles/km2) of micro- and mesoplastics were two orders of magnitude higher 1-day after the typhoon than the values recorded pre-typhoon and the mass (g/km2) of plastic particles (sum of micro- and mesoplastics) increased 1,300 times immediately after the storm. However, the remarkably high abundance of micro- and mesoplastics found at 1-day after the typhoon returned to the pre-typhoon levels in just 2 days. Model simulations also suggested that during an extreme storm a significant amount of micro- and mesoplastics can be rapidly swept away from coastal to open waters over a short period of time. To better estimate the annual load of plastics from land to sea it is important to consider the increase in leakages of plastic debris into the ocean associated with extreme storm events.

Plastics in the Indian Ocean – sources, transport, distribution, and impacts

Plastic debris is the most common and exponentially increasing human pollutant in the world's ocean. The distribution and impact of plastic in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans have been the subject of many publications but not so the Indian Ocean (IO). Some of the IO rim countries have the highest population densities globally and mismanagement of plastic waste is of concern in many of these rim states. Some of the most plastic-polluted rivers empty into the IO, with all this suggesting that the IO receives a tremendous amount of plastic debris each year. However, the concentration, distribution, and impacts of plastics in the IO are poorly understood as the region is under-sampled compared to other oceans. In this review, we discuss sources and sinks, which are specific to the IO. We also discuss unique atmospheric, oceanographic, and topographic features of the IO that control plastic distribution, such as reversing wind directions due to the monsoon, fronts, and upwelling regions. We identify hotspots of possible plastic accumulation in the IO, which differ between the two hemispheres. In the southern IO, plastics accumulate in a garbage patch in the subtropical gyre. However, this garbage patch is not well defined, and plastics may leak into the southern Atlantic or the Pacific Ocean. There is no subtropical gyre and associated garbage in the northern IO due to the presence of landmasses. Instead, the majority of buoyant plastics most likely end up on coastlines. Finally, we identify the vast knowledge gaps concerning plastics in the IO and point to the most pressing topics for future investigation.

Parks and Recreational Areas as Sinks of Plastic Debris in Urban Sites: The Case of Light-Density Microplastics in the City of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Soils of parks and recreational areas are potential sinks of microplastics because they are under multifunctional use. The aims of this research were to quantify and determine the types and abundance of light-density microplastics in one of the most cosmopolitan cities of the world: Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Therefore, potential differences between the city districts were explored through the assessment of light-density microplastics’ concentrations in soils together with the soil properties. Microplastics were extracted from 74 soil samples. Predictions of microplastic concentrations and soil characteristics were made for the entire city by using ordinary kriging; 97% of the samples contained microplastic particles (MPPs), and on average, there were 4825.31 ± 6513.85 MPP/kg soil. A total of 21 hotspot samples were identified, and all of them contained LDPE, which represented 40.82% of the plastic types, in addition to 35.06% PAC and 15.58% natural polyamide. Other types of plastics were PP (0.19%), PS (1.30%), bioplastic (0.19%), PA (0.37%), PU (0.56), PVC (0.19%), and unidentified plastics (0.19%). There were no significant differences in MPP concentration between city districts. Our results showed that MPPs are abundant in urban soils, which represents a high risk for soil life. Further studies are required for identifying the sources of this pollution.

Plastic Pollutions in Aquatic Environment- A Review

Plastic pollution in aquatic ecosystems is a growing environmental concern, as it has the potential to harm ecology, imperil aquatic organisms and cost ecological damage. Although rivers and other freshwater environments are known to play an important role in carrying land-based plastic trash to the world's seas, riverine ecosystems are also directly impacted by plastic pollution. A detailed understanding of the origin, movement, fate, and effects of riverine plastic waste is critical for better quantifying worldwide plastic pollution transport and effectively reducing sources and dangers. In this review, we emphasize the current scientific state of plastic debris in rivers, as well as the existing knowledge gaps, providing a basic overview of plastics and the types of polymers commonly found in rivers and the threat they bring to aquatic ecosystems. We also go through the origins and fates of riverine plastics, as well as the mechanisms and factors that affect plastic debris transit and spatiotemporal variation. We give an overview of riverine plastic transport monitoring and modeling activities, as well as examples of typical values from throughout the world. Finally, we discuss what the future holds for riverine plastic research.