User:Laneyst/Plastic pollution

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This article is all about plastic pollution. It starts by introducing what plastic pollution generally is then it goes onto describe the causes, types of plastic debris (microdebris vs macrodebris), plastic production, countries responsible for majority of plastic pollution, the effects (marine life, environment, humans, etc), reduction efforts, major plastic producing companies, deception of recycling, and types of ways to take action.

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Plastic pollution is the accumulation of plastic objects and particles (e.g. plastic bottles, bags and microbeads) in the Earth's environment that adversely affects wildlife, wildlife habitat, and humans. Plastics that act as pollutants are categorized by size into micro-, meso-, or macro debris. Plastics are inexpensive and durable making them very adaptable for different uses; as a result humans produce a lot of plastic. However, the chemical structure of most plastics renders them resistant to many natural processes of degradation and as a result they are slow to degrade. Together, these two factors allow large volumes of plastic to enter the environment as mismanaged waste and for it to persist in the ecosystem.

Plastic pollution can afflict land, waterways and oceans. It is estimated that 1.1 to 8.8 million tonnes of plastic waste enters the ocean from coastal communities each year. It is estimated that there is a stock of 86 million tons of plastic marine debris in the worldwide ocean as of the end of 2013, with an assumption that 1.4% of global plastics produced from 1950 to 2013 has entered the ocean and has accumulated there. Some researchers suggest that by 2050 there could be more plastic than fish in the oceans by weight. Living organisms, particularly marine animals, can be harmed either by mechanical effects such as entanglement in plastic objects, problems related to ingestion of plastic waste, or through exposure to chemicals within plastics that interfere with their physiology. Degraded plastic waste can directly affect humans through both direct consumption (i.e. in tap water), indirect consumption (by eating animals), and disruption of various hormonal mechanisms.

Plastic waste production has increased over the years across the globe, it has reached approximately 6,300 million metric tons (MT). Most of that plastic waste has been discarded in landfills and the surrounding environment. The calculated amount of plastic pollution that flows into the world's oceans is about 4.8-12.7 MT. A large amount of that waste comes from landfills and other sources on land and is transported by river or wind into the ocean.

As of 2019, 368 million tonnes of plastic is produced each year; 51% in Asia, where China is the world's largest producer. From the 1950s up to 2018, an estimated 6.3 billion tonnes of plastic has been produced worldwide, of which an estimated 9% has been recycled and another 12% has been incinerated. This large amount of plastic waste enters the environment, with studies suggesting that the bodies of 90% of seabirds contain plastic debris. In some areas there have been significant efforts to reduce the prominence of free range plastic pollution, through reducing plastic consumption, litter cleanup, and promoting plastic recycling. As of 2020, the global mass of produced plastic exceeds the biomass of all land and marine animals combined. A May 2019 amendment to the Basel Convention regulates the exportation/importation of plastic waste, largely intended to prevent the shipping of plastic waste from developed countries to developing countries. Nearly all countries have joined this agreement.<ref>National Geographic, 30 Oct. 2020,

Plastic Pollution on "Kanapou Bay, Kaho‘olawe, Hawaii" captured by NOAA's National Ocean Service

Plastics Affect on the Soil Environment

Many different species, including humans, need adequate soil to survive. Soil pollution is a big threat, it can even affect the safety of food for humans. Concern about plastic pollution has grown quite a bit, people are more focused on this issue now. Researchers have been paying attention to plastic waste in soil and are now drawing even more attention to this problem. The danger of small plastics in the soil and terrestrial ecosystems has become too big to ignore any further. A lot of researchers have also discovered the devastating effects of widespread plastic contamination in the soil environment, regarding the effects of microplastics.

Persistent Organic Pollutants

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are long-term residual, bio-accumulative, organic compounds found in nature and are very toxic. They are able to be transported through a wide range of environmental ways, including through water, air, biological, etc).

Large and rapid increase of industrialization has caused there to be more and more water contamination, it has become a serious issue. According to statistics over 1,000 million people will suffer from water scarcity in 2025 throughout arid regions. There are a lot of different known pollutants found in water but persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are causing the most concern. POPs are often mutagenic and carcinogenic because of this, some can cause nerve damage to humans and they are terrible for ecological balance. They are toxic and not fixable by traditional biological treatment. Dioxin is a type of persistent organic pollutant found in water and it is 1,000 times more powerful than potassium cyanide, which is one of the world's most known toxic compounds.

It was estimated that global production of plastics is approximately 250 mt/yr. Their abundance has been found to transport persistent organic pollutants, also known as POPs. These pollutants have been linked to an increased distribution of algae associated with red tides.

Plastic and Microplastic Toxicity

Microplastics are present and found in natural environments, research has shown that they have severe negative effects to marine and freshwater species. Measuring and evaluating the toxicity of microplastics requires acknowledging that they are not one homogenous entity. They derive from a lot of different product types and are made up of numerous polymers, chemical additives, side products, and particle properties. The toxicity of microplastics can also depend on the polymer type or on the chemicals that are found in certain plastic products. One plastic product can be made up of various different chemicals.

In 2021 Canada's government officially recognize plastic as toxic material what creates the possibility to limit its consumption in different ways.

External links:

9. Windsor, F. M., Durance, I., Horton, A. A., Thompson, R. C., Tyler, C. R., & Ormerod, S. J. (2019). A catchment‐scale perspective of plastic pollution. Global Change Biology, 25(4), 1207-1221. https://doi-org.eres.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/10.1111/gcb.14572

16. Chae, Y., & An, Y. (2018). Current research trends on plastic pollution and ecological impacts on the soil ecosystem: A review. Environmental Pollution, 240, 387-395. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2018.05.008

17. Pi, Y., Li, X., Xia, Q., Wu, J., Li, Y., Xiao, J., & Li, Z. (2018). Adsorptive and photocatalytic removal of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in water by metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). Chemical Engineering Journal, 337, 351-371. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2017.12.092

18. Pi, Y., Li, X., Xia, Q., Wu, J., Li, Y., Xiao, J., & Li, Z. (2018). Adsorptive and photocatalytic removal of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in water by metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). Chemical Engineering Journal, 337, 351-371. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2017.12.092

20. Zimmermann, L., Göttlich, S., Oehlmann, J., Wagner, M., & Völker, C. (2020). What are the drivers of microplastic toxicity? Comparing the toxicity of plastic chemicals and particles to Daphnia magna. Environmental Pollution, 267, 115392. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2020.115392