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Coastal Microplastic Pollution: History
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Contributor: Eng Editorial Office

Coastal microplastic pollution refers to the contamination of shorelines, beaches, intertidal sediments, and nearshore waters by synthetic plastic particles smaller than five millimeters in diameter, including fragments, fibers, granules, and films derived from the breakdown of larger plastic debris or from manufactured microbeads [1]. These particles accumulate on beaches through wave action, tidal deposition, and nearshore currents, where they become embedded in surface and subsurface beach sands and strandlines, and they act both as a temporary sink for debris and as a source for subsequent reworking and transport [2]. Because microplastics are present in a range of polymers including polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, and polyester, and because they sorb hydrophobic organic contaminants and heavy metals from seawater, they exhibit a heterogeneous spatial distribution controlled by sediment grain size, hydrodynamic energy, and proximity to terrestrial and marine sources [3]. The particles are ingested by intertidal and coastal organisms and can be transferred through coastal food webs.

  • microplastics
  • beach sediments
  • shoreline
  • polymer
  • intertidal zone

Microplastics and Plastic Pollution •  Pollution •  Environmental Science •  Physical Sciences

References

  1. Richard C. Thompson; Ylva Olsen; Richard P. Mitchell; Anthony Davis; Steven J. Rowland; Anthony W. G. John; Daniel McGonigle; Andrea E. Russell; Lost at Sea: Where Is All the Plastic?. Sci. 2004, 304, 838-838, 10.1126/science.1094559.
  2. Mark Anthony Browne; Phillip Crump; Stewart J. Niven; Emma Teuten; Andrew Tonkin; Tamara Galloway; Richard Thompson; Accumulation of Microplastic on Shorelines Woldwide: Sources and Sinks. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2011, 45, 9175-9179, 10.1021/es201811s.
  3. Stephanie L. Wright; Richard C. Thompson; Tamara S. Galloway; The physical impacts of microplastics on marine organisms: A review. Environ. Pollut. 2013, 178, 483-492, 10.1016/j.envpol.2013.02.031.
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