Running head: PLASTIC POLLUTION: A THREAT TO OCEANIC ENVIRONMENTS

Plastic Pollution: A Threat to Oceanic Environments

Sara Montoya

Texas A & M University – Corpus Christi

29 October 2019
PLASTIC POLLUTION: A THREAT TO OCEANIC ENVIRONMENTS 2

Abstract

The issue of plastic pollution threatens the quality and functioning of marine ecosystems, as well

the organisms belonging to them. The distinct profusion of plastic waste debris in oceanic

environments is a global phenomenon which offers a plethora of disadvantageous repercussions

that worsen with the growing amounts of microplastics and other plastic variants entering marine

habitats. Though the nature of this environmental concern is widely acknowledged, the true

extent of this problem in its prominence and disastrous effects upon the world’s oceanic domains

is a facet commonly underestimated and ill-communicated to the public. This results in ill-driven

efforts for resolution-based mitigation, facilitating the continuation of current rates of plastic

pollution. This review analyzes the adverse effects that plastic pollutants engender upon marine

environments, the quantitative extent that plastics reside in these ecosystems, and notable

endeavors of international mitigation aimed at reducing the severity of this unbridled oceanic

plastic presence.
PLASTIC POLLUTION: A THREAT TO OCEANIC ENVIRONMENTS 3

Plastic Pollution: A Threat to Oceanic Environments

The looming threat most pervasive in the realm of modern environmental affairs concerns

the prominence of plastics within sea ecosystems. Plastics, existing in a multitude of varying

forms, exhibit abundant traces of residing in every ocean in the world (Turner, et al., 2019).

These manmade environmental pollutants inhibit the state of natural marine ecosystems by

posing a significant danger to the wildlife and their surroundings, heightening the risk of paring

organism diversity and damaging the oceanic habitats biota are biologically dependent upon

(Xanthos & Walker, 2017). The exponentially increasing industrial rates of plastic production

(Bonanno & Orlando-Bonaca, 2018), combined with a persistent lack of an adequate waste

regulation and management system project the marine plastic debris presence to continue its

rapid trajectory of escalation currently, as well as in the near and distant future (Schnurr, et al.,

2018). This review explores the effects that plastic pollutants warrant within oceanic

environments, emphasizing the worsening state of the marine plastic situation and discussing

efforts of resolution, thereby promoting the critical need for continued developmental endeavors

of mitigation.

Effect of Plastic in Marine Ecosystems

Though plastic serves as a versatile material providing a host of benefits to society, such

as in industrial manufacturing, construction, food preservation techniques, and medicine, a lack

of an adequate waste disposal system results in significant amounts of plastic entering the

world’s oceans (Clark, et al., 2016).

Plastic and its residual debris are widely considered to be one of the most detrimental

pollutants permeating throughout the vast majority of oceanic environments (Bonanno &
PLASTIC POLLUTION: A THREAT TO OCEANIC ENVIRONMENTS 4

Orlando-Bonaca, 2018). Marine organisms are most frequently affected, often adversely, by the

degree in which plastic pollutants exist within their habitats. Instances of organism entanglement,

smothering, and ingestion are a mere few of the consequences negatively influencing marine life,

which in turn deteriorate both the amount and quality of marine diversity (Gutow & Bergmann,

2019). The oceanic environments these organisms rely upon are also threatened by the issue of

plastic pollution, as marine habitats maintain evidence of experiencing resulting adverse

modification that pertain to environmental aspects of shading, abrasion, and coverage, all of

which are associated with the reduction of light, oxygen, and food supply facilitating the survival

of each species (Gutow & Bergmann, 2019).

Another facet of this plastic threat regards not only its overwhelming presence, but also

the interaction of its chemical composition with the surrounding environment. Consumption of

marine plastic debris by organisms poses the potential of introducing toxic substances to biota;

chemicals assuming the form of emollients, dyes, flame retardants, and antimicrobials

contributed to plastic during its development may result in cellular toxicity and endocrine

disruption (Clark, et al., 2016). Plastics that infiltrate oceanic environments also contain other

varieties of chemical components, comprised of unreacted monomers, oligomers, and additives,

which maintain the ability to leach over time, gradually expanding the oceanic regions subject to

the negative consequences of chemical materials in plastic (DeFrond, et al., 2018). The effects of

this prominent plastic threat upon global marine ecosystems are further exacerbated by the

degree in which it exists, as rates of plastic manufacturing (and improper waste efforts leading to

plastic residence in oceans) are projected to reach new heights in the rapidly arriving future

(Bonanno & Orlando-Bonaca, 2018).

Overwhelming Presence of Plastic Pollutants

The extent that disregarded plastic components and other forms of debris exist within

varying oceanic habitats has attained levels unparalleled throughout history. Globally, it is

estimated that between 4 and 12 million tons of plastic pollutants enter the world’s oceans each

year (Compa, et al., 2019).

One of the most adversely affected bodies of water is the Mediterranean Sea, which is

described to contain between approximately 3,200,000,000,000 and 28,200,000,000,000 small

plastic particles floating atop the surface of the sea, making this oceanic region a pollution

“hotspot”, a term assigned to environmental areas containing a significant overabundance of

plastic debris (Compa, et al., 2019).The hotspot of the Mediterranean develops into an even

greater issue when considered alongside the host of sea life this region supports, as this oceanic

body harbors an estimated 4% to 18% of the world’s marine species (Compa, et al., 2019). The

plight of a particular marine organism, the sea turtle, further exhibits the nature of the heavily

polluted Mediterranean Sea. A high volume of plastic particles exists within the large majority of

loggerhead and green sea turtle nesting locations along the coast of Cyprus, with these sites

hosting an average of between 45,000 and 56,000 microplastic debris fragments permeating the

top 2 centimeters of sand (Duncan, et al., 2018). Though an abundance of these pollutants resides

in topical sand layers, traces of plastics extend to even greater depths on Cyprus shores, with

approximately 10,000 particles residing at an immersion level of 60 centimeters, a depth

preferred for nesting purposes by the turtles of this region (Duncan, et al., 2018). The persistence

of plastic residing in marine ecosystems and the threat it poses to oceanic life is not restricted to

a single geographic region nor a mere individual species, however.

Among the biotic diversity affected by this issue are seabirds in the northeastern Atlantic,

74% of whom maintain evidence of severe plastic ingestion (O’Hanlon, et al., 2017). This
PLASTIC POLLUTION: A THREAT TO OCEANIC ENVIRONMENTS 6

profuse majority of sea bird species negatively affected by the sheer amount of plastic and

residual plastic debris within their coastal habitats serve to continually emphasize the scope of

the ocean plastic phenomenon (O’Hanlon, et al., 2017). This issue, though prevalent in the direct

impact it maintains on organisms and their encounters with tangible plastic particles, is also

characterized by an intangible facet pertaining to chemical composition.

In 2015, the mass of chemical additives estimated to have entered the oceans by means of

only 7 common plastic items (bottles, bottle caps, expanded polystyrene containers, cutlery,

grocery bags, food wrappers, and straws) reached an approximate 190 tons (DeFrond, et al.,

2018). Though a significant portion of this waste is attributed to primarily coastal regions, open-

water areas are not excluded from encountering the severe repercussions of plastic debris

infiltration (Gutow & Bergmann, 2019). There exists a distinct, positive correlation between the

amount of chemical pollution deriving from waste plastics and the distance between land and the

polluted water region, emphasizing the concept that oceanic regions within proximity to shore,

such as coastal areas, are typically plagued with a more significant abundance of plastic chemical

pollution than open-ocean areas (DeFrond, et al., 2018). This trend, however, relies upon the fact

that open-water regions also contain plastic debris and its chemical detriments negatively

influencing the environment and its marine inhabitants (DeFrond, et al., 2018).

The inordinate extent of a plastic presence within oceanic ecosystems warrants endeavors

of mitigation that will facilitate the gradual resolution of this environmental dilemma, potentially

providing a semblance of hope for the future of the world’s oceans.

Resolution Efforts
PLASTIC POLLUTION: A THREAT TO OCEANIC ENVIRONMENTS 7

The necessity of enacting efforts of resolution to alleviate global marine plastic

pollution becomes apparent with consideration of the seemingly endless supply residing in every

ocean. A lack of an effective waste management system, insufficient wastewater treatment,

inadequate corporate social responsibility, littering, illegal dumping, and natural disasters

function as significant contributors to the pollution issue, further illustrating a need for mitigative

endeavors (Kandziora, et al., 2019).

Despite the adoption of International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from

Ships in 1973 and a complete ban of plastic disposal at sea effective as of 1988, the issue of

marine pollution by plastic exhibits evidence of worsening after these procedures were set in

place (Xanthos & Walker, 2017).

The steady growth of plastics with the continued development of a modern industrial age

prompted a more immediate recent concern with the state of the world’s oceans (Turner, et al.,

2019), leading to the creation of the “Honolulu Strategy” in 2011 by the Fifth International

Marine Debris Conference, which formed an international framework for the reduction of marine

plastic pollution (Schnurr, et al., 2018). The Honolulu Strategy, emphasizing the inclusion of

market-based instruments for waste minimization, regulations, and legislation to pare marine

debris, prompted an eventual declaration of the fight against plastics by the United Nations

Environment Programme in 2017, which assumed the form of their global “CleanSeas”

campaign (Schnurr, et al., 2018).

The innovative and well-formulated Honolulu Strategy also inspires a host of individual

marine debris networks (Kandziora, et al., 2019). These networks function as a strategy to

achieve societal change by providing platforms for engagement at varying regional levels, while

also striving to communicate, collaborate, and advocate for continued pollution prevention
PLASTIC POLLUTION: A THREAT TO OCEANIC ENVIRONMENTS 8

efforts on a global scale (Kandziora, et al., 2019). Examples of several established marine debris

networks include: the Australian Marine Debris Initiative (AMDI), the German Round Table of

Marine Litter, the Indonesian Waste Platform (IWP), the Portuguese Marine Litter Association

(APLM), the African Marine Waste Network (AMWN), and the globally inclusive Marine Litter

Network (MLN) (Kandziora, et al., 2019).

A critical component of formulating any sort of policy or procedure with intentions of

enacting effective and legitimate marine debris resolution efforts regards a defined structure

(Tessnow-von Wysocki & Le Billion, 2019). This theoretically ideal structure, charged with

implementing an efficient global treaty for the alleviation of marine plastic pollution, must

encompass the factors most responsible for the severity of the issue, such as ocean governance,

sea and land-based pollution control, and chemical control. (Tessnow-von Wysocki & Le

Billion, 2019). Key design elements, such as the inclusion of common but differentiated

responsibilities, financial means, methods of monitoring and reporting, and enforcement

procedures will enhance the structure of this tentative pollution resolution (Tessnow-von

Wysocki & Le Billion, 2019).

Of these elements, aspects of environmental monitoring pose the greatest challenge.

Improving the difficulty of ocean management and protection may be approached by means of

targeted monitoring programs to both study and quantify the interactions of subsequent effects of

plastics and marine diversity (Clark, et al., 2016). Biomonitoring, which suggests the study of

marine organisms in their use to assess the state of their oceanic ecosystems, is rising in

experimental popularity and efficiency (Bonanno & Orlando-Bonaca, 2018). This system serves

to heighten scientific understanding of the marine plastic pollution status by providing

observational and quantitative data to analyze and deduce inferences from, prompting

appropriate, educated actions of prevention and mitigation.

Conclusion

The consistently worsening state of oceanic ecosystems on a global scale is comparable

to any notable environmental tragedy. The continuation of trends in careless public and

commercial waste protocol, functioning alongside the rampant industrial production of

convenient plastics, have accomplished the engendering of a steady detriment to the world’s

natural marine domains (Gutow & Bergmann, 2019). Copious amounts of plastics, varying in

assortment and composition, litter these marine habitats, posing a significant threat to the safety,

biological functioning, and quality of life for organisms residing within affected ecosystems

(Compa, et al., 2019). The chemical nature of the developmental material utilized in the majority

of plastics provides another adverse facet of the marine pollution issue, increasing the danger of

a superfluous plastic presence that has become ingrained in this modern atmosphere (DeFrond,

2018). International mitigation efforts charged with the rehabilitation of the world’s seas attempt

restorative endeavors by advocating for ocean awareness, developing improved means of

monitoring the extent and repercussions of an abundant plastic presence, and operating

collaboratively among themselves and other organizations to pursue further scientific

understanding of struggling oceanic environments (Kandziora, et al., 2019).The necessity of

continued pursuits to pare the overwhelming plastic presence within marine ecosystems becomes

readily apparent. To reduce the negative impact humanity has imposed upon their waters by

means of flagrant disregard for the waste of deleterious plastics, the issue must initially be

addressed, investigated, and allowed the dignity of warranting genuine efforts of resolution.
PLASTIC POLLUTION: A THREAT TO OCEANIC ENVIRONMENTS 10

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