The DOI matches its Crossref record; 56 of the 56 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
A Global Perspective on Microplastics
Abstract
Society has become increasingly reliant on plastics since commercial production began in about 1950. Their versatility, stability, light weight, and low production costs have fueled global demand. Most plastics are initially used and discarded on land. Nonetheless, the amount of microplastics in some oceanic compartments is predicted to double by 2030. To solve this global problem, we must understand plastic composition, physical forms, uses, transport, and fragmentation into microplastics (and nanoplastics). Plastic debris/microplastics arise from land disposal, wastewater treatment, tire wear, paint failure, textile washing, and at‐sea losses. Riverine and atmospheric transport, storm water, and disasters facilitate releases. In surface waters plastics/microplastics weather, biofoul, aggregate, and sink, are ingested by organisms and redistributed by currents. Ocean sediments are likely the ultimate destination. Plastics release additives, concentrate environmental contaminants, and serve as substrates for biofilms, including exotic and pathogenic species. Microplastic abundance increases as fragment size decreases, as does the proportion of organisms capable of ingesting them. Particles <20 μm may penetrate cell membranes, exacerbating risks. Exposure can compromise feeding, metabolic processes, reproduction, and behavior. But more investigation is required to draw definitive conclusions. Human ingestion of contaminated seafood and water is a concern. Microplastics indoors present yet uncharacterized risks, magnified by the time we spend inside (>90%) and the abundance of polymeric products therein. Scientific challenges include improving microplastic sampling and characterization approaches, understanding long‐term behavior, additive bioavailability, and organismal and ecosystem health risks. Solutions include improving globally based pollution prevention, developing degradable polymers and additives, and reducing consumption/expanding plastic reuse.
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Citations
Cites
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Cited by
Chemical Analysis of Microplastics and Nanoplastics: Challenges, Advanced Methods, and Perspectives
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The physical oceanography of the transport of floating marine debris
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Microplastics in soil: A review on methods, occurrence, sources, and potential risk
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Microplastics in freshwater sediment: A review on methods, occurrence, and sources
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Metadata
- Authors
- Hale, R. C., Seeley, M. E., La Guardia, M. J., Mai, L., & Zeng, E. Y.
- Venue
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans
- Publisher
- American Geophysical Union (AGU)
- Published
- 2020-01
- Volume
- 125
- Issue
- 1
- ISSN
- 2169-9275 (ISSN-L)
- 2169-9291
- OpenAlex
- W2999690316
- Cited by
- 1,338
- References
- 56
- FWCI
- 30.12
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
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- Hale, R. C., Seeley, M. E., La Guardia, M. J., Mai, L., & Zeng, E. Y. (2020). A Global Perspective on Microplastics. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018jc014719
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Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).
Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.
