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The Technological Challenges of Dealing with Plastics in the Environment

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The Technological Challenges of Dealing with Plastics in the Environment COMMENTARY The Technological Challenges of Dealing With Plastics in the Environment AUTHORS tem functions, the effects of micro- the Ellen McArthur Foundation push- Sarah-Jeanne Royer plastics are still not fully understood, ing for new plastic economy (https:// Scripps Institution of Oceanography, although they are widely accepted to www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/ University of California, San Diego be negative. This is exacerbated by our-work/activities/new-plastics- and The Ocean Cleanup Foundation, the fact that it is difficult (if not im- economy) and global commitments Delft, The Netherlands possible) to remove such microplastics from a list of countries to manage the from the environment. Or, at least, Dimitri D. Deheyn balance between environmental health the technology of today to do so at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and the plastic economy (https:// such a large scale is still not ready. University of California, San Diego www.ellenmacarthurfoundation. Hence, most of the technological in- org/news/a-line-in-the-sand-ellen- novations related to plastic targets macarthur-foundation-launch-global- lastic pollution has been at the the macroplastics only; even though commitment-to-eliminate-plastic- forefront of national news and social P this size fraction might not be the pollution-at-the-source). media with shocking images of wild- most abundant or damaging, at life impacted with plastics. Plastics least, it can be removed and hence are found in remote places, from prevent its further fragmentation in Plastics: Impact on Society mountain tops to the bottom of the the environment. and Public Health Still oceans and from the North Pole to fl In this article, we brie yidentify a Well-Kept Mystery Antarctica, and are a sign of the wide- the technologies that are proposed to Despite being one of the most spread impact of human activities. address the issues of macroplastics in pervasive materials on the planet, Plastics that are the most known to the oceans, while addressing the re- the public are the macroplastics (in plastic and its impact on human search and policy framework of this other words, “the ones we can easily health is poorly understood. Yet, ex- global issue in human society. see”); because we use them on a posure to plastic is expanding into daily basis, they are an integrative new areas of the environment and part of our life (from the grocery plas- Plastics: Issue at Large, food chain as existing plastic prod- tic bag to the water bottle or the parts ucts fragment into smaller particles of car or furniture) and are the ones Making All of and concentrate toxic chemicals. As that we consider “disposable” and of Us Responsible plastic production increases, this ex- single use (like straws and plastic Plastic pollution has reached some posure under different forms will utensils or cups). dimensions that have gone out of only grow, and the impacts can only “And so what?” one might ask. control. It became one of the most be speculative at this stage. The problem with these plastics is pressing environmental issues, as rap- Indeed, currently, uncertainties that they were made to last “forever,” idly increasing production of dispos- and knowledge gaps undermine the meaning that their degradation in the able plastic products overwhelms the full evaluation of health impacts but environment is slow, although over world’s ability to deal with them. Plas- also limit the ability of consumers, the years, these macroplastics undergo tic debris has become such a ubiqui- communities, and regulators to weathering and break down in smaller tous material used daily by people make informed choices and heighten and smaller pieces (called microplastics) from all over the world that it recently both acute and long-term health that are easier to enter the foodweb. prompted efforts to write a global treaty risks at all stages of the plastic lifecycle Once in these biological processes that negotiated by the United Nations and and for all stages of the lifespan of liv- are critical for the well-being of ecosys- is the focus of key foundations such as ing creatures. September/October 2019 Volume 53 Number 5 13 Plastics: What Do We FIGURE 1 Know, and What Should Macroplastic debris at Unalau Bay, Kauai, Hawaii. Photo credit: S.J. Royer. We Know? Plastic research has been booming over the past decades, and more infor- mation is now available spanning from the sources, the distribution in the environment, and also the tech- niques developed to assess the emerg- ing contaminants adsorbed, leached, or produced from the polymer com- pounds. However, there are still some important gaps that need to be addressed to understand the global impact of this major anthropogenic pollutant. Clearly, the techniques and envi- ronmental processes driving these contaminants depend on their size. The smaller the polymer fractions are, the more difficult it becomes to detect, extract, quantify, and qualify Single-use plastics (SUPs), durable Microfibers: Anthropogenic them. Processing time also increases goods, and fishing material are the cate- Material Coming From Clothing as the samples get smaller. gories of macroplastic mostly found in A microfiber can be considered as In order, to discriminate the differ- the environment (Figure 1). averyfine yarn that has a diameter ent detection and removal techniques, that varies between 3.4 and 36.2 μm we make the distinction between three (ca. 1/5 the diameter of a human hair; types of polymers: macroplastics, mi- Microplastic: The Ones That Are Figure 3). Microfibers are often dis- croplastics, and microfibers. Difficult to See cussed as being under the umbrella of As of now, there is no legally inter- microplastics; however, it is important Macroplastics: The “Popular nationally standardized definition for to recognize that microfibers are not ex- Ones” You Can See microplastics in terms of size and com- clusively plastic-based material and can Large visible plastic debris (>5 mm position. Generally, it summarizes as be of natural origin (e.g., cellulose- in diameter) is defined as macroplastic. being plastic particles that are small based compounds, cotton, hemp, Macroplastic debris can be degraded plastic debris of less than 5 mm in linen, wool) as well as modified natural and broken down into smaller particles, size. Microplastics encountered in the material (semisynthetic), mixed (i.e., named microplastic debris, through environment (Figure 2) can be of pri- polyester and cotton), and fully synthet- different degradation processes such as mary or secondary origin. Primary par- ic (polyester, nylon, lycra, polypro- photodegradation (ultraviolet radia- ticles are purposefully designated pylene). Overall, synthetic fibers tions), mechanical degradation (i.e., as manufactured granules for further account for approximately 60% of physical stress, action of waves), oxida- conversion processes as well as fine the total global fiber production with tion, and biodegradation. Their sources powders for technical applications or polyamide (nylon) and polyester (poly- are wide and include the mismanage- for addition to cosmetics. Secondary ethylene terephthalate) as dominating ment of plastic waste on land, sewer particles are derived from the disposal fibers (McArthur Foundation; https:// (sewage and storm water), beachgoers, of macroplastic items and its subse- www.ellenmacarthurfoundation. boaters, landfills, commercial fisher- quent breakdown mostly occurring in org/our-work/activities/make- men, vessels, and industrial products. the environment. fashion-circular; https://www. 14 Marine Technology Society Journal FIGURE 2 ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/ publications/the-new-plastics- Microplastic debris at James Campbell National Wildlife, O’ahu, Hawaii. Photo credit: S.J. Royer. economy-rethinking-the-future-of- plastics-catalysing-action). Microfibers are mostly generated from apparels and textiles and, there- fore, as opposed to other plastics, originate in majority from land with access to the ocean via two routes: wa- terborne and airborne. The main source of microfibers released to the environment is through the washing of clothes. Indeed, washing synthetic textiles in industrial laundries and households creates primary microplas- tics through abrasion and shedding of fibers. A recent publication indicated that the number of fibers released from washing 6 kg of laundry could reach more than 700,000 fibers (Napper & Thompson, 2016). The fibers are then discharged in sewage FIGURE 3 water and potentially end up in the ocean (Magnusson & Norén, 2014). Images of microfibers in fluorescence after sample filtration on glass fiber filter and imaged fl Given that the majority of clothing under stereoscope uorescence microscopy (excitation 390 nm, emission >420 nm with fi Nikon Long Pass Filter). Stereoscope is a Nikon SMZ1500 model, equipped with a digital bers are synthetic, their degradation camera (MicroPublisher 6, Photometrics/Q-Imaging), fluorescence filter cubes setups, and adds to the sources of (macro) plastics Bright Field imaging settings with white light LEDs light source, as well as optical zooming. (that can degrade into microplastics) Images were acquired and managed with the QCapture-Pro software interface and not exposed into the marine environment. Other to any postprocessing (images were taken at a magnification of 6×zoom). Photo credit: Deheyn Lab. nonpoint sources of microfibers relat- ed to the shedding of our clothing is while wearing and drying clothes in a dryer. Indeed, these microfibers are smaller than the lint
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