Elektrans Global

Micro Plastics- “A recent development in marine environment pollution”

Micro plastics refer to small plastic particles, less than 5 mm in diameter, but some are as small as 10 nanometers. Micro plastics may be purposefully manufactured for particular industrial or domestic applications such as facial cleansers, or result from the fragmentation of larger items, especially when exposed to sunlight. Micro plastics have been found distributed throughout the world’s oceans, on shorelines, in surface waters and seabed sediments, from the Arctic to Antarctic. They may accumulate at remote locations such as mid-ocean gyres, as well as close to population centers, shipping routes and other major sources. Plastics often contain chemicals added during manufacture and can absorb and concentrate contaminants such as pesticides from the surrounding seawater and there is emerging evidence of transfer of chemicals from ingested plastics into tissues.

It is widely recognized that marine debris can have significant ecological, social and economic impacts. Plastics form a large proportion of marine litter, and the widespread occurrence of macroscopic plastic debris and the direct impact this can have both on marine fauna and legitimate uses of the environment, sometimes remote from industrial or urban sources, has been well documented. In general, plastic debris comes in a wide variety of sizes and compositions and has been found throughout the world ocean, carried by ocean currents and biological vectors (e.g. stomach contents of fish, mammals and birds). Plastics degrade extremely slowly in the open ocean, partly due to UV absorption by seawater and relatively low temperatures. In recent years the existence of micro-plastics and their potential impact has received increasing attention.

Micro-plastics have a range of compositions and can be demarcated by usage and source as:

i)             micro-plastic resin pellets used in the plastics industry, and in certain applications such as industrial abrasives; skin-care products; and,

ii)            micro-plastics resulting from the degradation and breakdown of larger items, including so-called biodegradable plastics.

Pollution of the marine environment by micro plastics may be regarded as a relatively “new” environment problem. GESAMP report recommends better control of the sources of plastic waste, through applying the principles of the “3 R’s” (Reduce, Re-Use, Re-cycle) and improving the overall management of plastics as the most efficient and cost effective way of reducing the quantity of plastic objects and micro plastics particles accumulating in the ocean.

The report warns that even if all releases of plastic to the environment were to cease immediately, the number of micro plastics in the ocean would be expected to continue to increase as a result of continuing fragmentation.

Although MARPOL Annex V, which entered into force in December 1988, has prohibited the discharge from ships of all plastics into the sea, but the warning in the above report is alarming!! We would now have to wait and see what would be the further international measures that would be taken by UNEP and IMO.