Why is plastic pollution an planetary health issue? Tamara Galloway [email protected] LIFE magazine Waste saves time!
Article from 1955 extolling the labour saving benefits of disposable items: the idea of a throwaway society was born
Source: SYSTEMIQ ~400 million tonnes/year produced ~80+ MT plastic packaging
Recycled 10% Incinerated 16% formally 90%+ Landfilled 42% linear “single use plastic”
Leaked to 32% nature
Plastic packaging After Use
Source: Ellen MacArthur Foundation “New Plastics Economy” … now in the remote Arctic
Cozar et al 2017 Photo: Connor Mc Donald Photo JP Munoz-Perez ~1 million seabird, >100,000 marine mammals killed/maimed each year (UN 2012) WHO report Deaths Environmental 2017 % fraction % Coronary heart 34.1 24 disease Diarrhoea 3.7 90 HIV/AIDS/TB 6.0 25 Dementias 3.4 17 Type 2 diabetes 2.8 19 Lung cancer 2.4 10 Macro versus microplastics Microplastics
• Microscopic plastic fragments, fibres and beads <5 mm in diameter
70 μm
Clothing, rope, Cosmetic microbeads smoked cigarette butts Cole et al., MarCole Poll et Bull, al. (2011) 2011 Dimensions of ‘microplastics’
Hidalgo et al., 2012 Plastics attract contaminants
Galloway et al 2917 Nature Eco Evo Leaching of additives
Polymer type Hazard ranking Polypropylene 1 Polyethylene 11 Polystyrene 1,628 – 1,630 Lower density polyamide 63 - 50 Polyethylene 4 teraphthalate polyvinylchloride 10,5001 – 10,551
Polymers identified in marine debris , relative hazard derived from constituent monomers and additives, from Lithner et al 2011 and Galloway 2015 Is microplastic ingested? Particles are ingested and pass to the digestive tubules
Preliminary experiments exposed M. edulis to microplastic particles
Using histological techniques we demonstrate……….
Digestive tubule 3-10 μm 3 µm fluorescent polystyrene polystyrene in gut cavity of M. edulis Browne et al., ES&T 2007 And accumulate in haemolymph
Both sizes found in haemolymph and haemocytes 3 µm plastic microplastic
9.6 µm plastic haemocyte
Browne et al., ES&T 2007 Particles are retained for up to 48 days
0.3
1
- (F = 13.33, P < 0.01**) ** 4,40 0.2 3.0 µm ** 9.6 µm
0.1
haemolymph
l
μ Microspheres per Microspheres Number of particles of Number 0
0 6 12 18 24 30 36 42 48 Days after pulse exposure
3.0 > 9.6 µm (F1,40 = 9.87, P < 0.01 **)
Browne et al., ES&T 2007 Microplastics in bivalves cultured for human consumption
50µm
mean 0.36 ± 0.07 particles g-1 mussel, = average person consumes 11,000 particles per year from seafood
Van Cauwenberghe and Janssen, 2014 Env Poll 193:65-70 What factors influence uptake? Plastics in seawater/L -1
Abundance spans 6 orders of magnitude N. Pacific Central Gyre 2008 672 fish, 6 species, 35% contained microplastic Algalita Marine Research Foundation Other species? All turtles had microplastics (1-5mm) in their guts (n=102)
white= no macroplastic black= macroplastic (>5mm) Duncan et al Global Change Biol. (in press) Trophic transfer? Biomonitoring study with captive seals Trophic transfer to top predators
n=31
Mean size 400μ – 3mm Nelms et al 2018 Env Poll Microplastics shapes and sizes
> fibres
> fragments Why the difference? Routes of uptake across the gut
via microfold (M) cells, optimum size < 200nm
Inhaled fibre
Mowat 2003 Nature. Rev Immunol macrophages Galloway 2015 in Marine Anthropogenic Litter Particle retention in the gut
Raman scattering image at 2845 cm–1 (C-H bond resonance)
Polystyrene microsphere Watts et al., 2014 ES&T Microplastics in air Inhaled plastic fibres found in >80% samples
50 μm
Pauly 1998 Cancer Epidemiol Biom prevent macrophages
• 29- 280 particles / m3 / day on urban rooftops in Paris (3-10 tonnes/year)
• Mostly fibres, 200-600 μm Dris et al., Env Chem 2015 Human ingestion? Human Biomonitoring
‘the internal dose is at the heart of the relationship between exposure and health effects’.(Needham et al., 2007) National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey NHANES chemicals measured in 3000+ respondents
2001/2 2003/4 Dioxins, Furans, and Coplanar PCBS 28 29 Non-Dioxin-Like Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) 23 26 Urinary Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) 21 21 Volatile Organic Compounds 20 38
Organochlorine Pesticides 13 13 Urinary Phthalates 19 13 Urinary Heavy Metals 12 12 Urinary Organophosphate Insecticides 29 6 Urinary Perchlorate 1 1 Environmental Phenols 0 4 Polyfluorinated compounds 0 11 Urinary Total Arsenic and Speciated Arsenics 0 8 Polybrominated diphenyl ethers 0 11 Totals 176 201 Eating up the world’s food web
Trophic level of humans Priority pollutants across Bonhommeau et al 2013 trophic levels Bonito et al 2016 Priority chemical contaminants in seafood
Global temporal trends ng/g muscle tissue Bonito et al 2016 Microplastics? Why not do things differently? Tackle major sources
95% of ocean plastic comes from 10 rivers Target troublesome items
Estimated time till they’re gone: NOAA We can improve things…
Galloway et al 2017 Nature Eco Evo 1:0016 Acknowledgements
• Exeter: Ceri Lewis, Andrew Watts, Matt Cole, Rhys Goodhead, Julian Moger, Nick Stone, Adam Porter, Seta Noventa, Emily Duncan, Sarah Nelms, Brendan Godley • Plymouth: Richard Thompson, Mark Browne, Pennie Lindeque, • Rozalia project, USA: Rachel Miller
http://www.rozaliaproject.org/ Aquaculture production by country