Plastic Debris: A Threat To The Marine Environment

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Introduction
‘The ocean has become a global repository for our waste’ which includes, glass, metal, plastic, and many more. A global issue has arisen from how a type of waste called plastics, slowly “fragments and accumulates in convergence zones (UNEP ).” In estimate, plastic creates 60-80% of the world’s marine debris, accounting for a total of 5,250 billion pieces with a combined weight of 268,940 tonnes. The role of plastics and its chemical capabilities in the ocean are ‘poorly understood’, but they can potentially threaten ecosystems as well as human health (Pichel). This essay will evaluate the issue of plastic debris as a threat to the marine environment through analyzing its chemical effects, as well as assess the extent of the problem …show more content…

The five different gyres are located in the North and South Pacific Ocean, North and South Altantic Ocean, and the Indian Ocean (UNEP ). These gyres are one of the biggest and most dangerous effects of ocean dumping. They became a global dump for the world’s waste that contain mostly plastics because they’re strong enough to actually travel in long distance and accummulate these zones for …show more content…

High- Density Polythylene (HDPE)- detergent bottles

Plastic debris in the marine environment carry different chemicals that originates from two different groups, which are hydrophobic chemicals adsorped from the surroundings and additives like monomers, and ogliomers contained in the plastic itself (Teuten).
Additives are substances mixed in plastics that improve and preserve its conditions. It is what makes plastic longlasting, cheaper, easier to process, and appealing. The largest group of additives in polymers are called plasticizers which are used to increase the fluidity of plastic when it’s too rigid. Many are classified as dangerous, in which some of the common ones are, phthalates and Bisphenol A (BPA). Not only phthalates are dangerous to human health, there are also different kinds of phthalates that have high solubility causing it to be easily released from the polymers to the marine environment (Teuten).
Besides additives, plastics in the marine environment also carry PBTs that are absorped from its surroundings. Adsorption is the process of binding molecules or particles to the surface of a solid.This process happens to polymers in the marine environment as they are exposed to the different pollutants that are present in the ocean. Polymers or plastics contain crystalline regions, where molecules are arranged in a laticce structure and amorphous

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