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.
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