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Introduction to the problems with plastic
Can you imagine life without plastic? Admitted- this may seem difficult, since plastic is used in almost all areas of life. Since the 1950´s the production output of plastic has increased enormously, from 1,5 to 335 million tons in 2016.[1] There is still a tendency towards output increase, in Europe the output increased from 58 to 60 million tons from 2015 to 2016, globally it was 322 to 335 million tons. The reason why synthetic materials, colloquially known as plastic, are being used in this extent is their useful and variable properties. Synthetic materials are for example light, resistant and inexpensive.
The downside of the success story of plastic: the lifetime of most plastic products is very short. Within the EU the majority-almost 40 %- of the industrially produced plastic of the year 2016 was used for short lived packaging material [1]. What happens to the worn-out material, the plastic garbage? At present within the EU 30 % of the collected materials are recycled or deposited and 40 % burned for energy generation [1]. A part of the plastic waste is not collected though and therefore pollutes the environment, the extent is not exactly known and variable internationally.
The plastic waste problem. Since plastic is not biodegradable it accumulates in the environment. Especially the natural systems sea and ocean and their special areas beach, water surface, water column and seafloor are globally afflicted. Since the 1970´s it is known that waste aggravates in the oceans. A study estimates for the year 2010 that an amount of 4,8 to 12,7 million tons got into the oceans [2]. Of the 5 big sea vortexes every single one of them transports such amounts of plastic waste in its circular ways, that there is talking about waste vortexes and waste islands.
Plastic waste is not only an aesthetic but also an ecological problem. It bears a physical injury risk for maritime organisms, they may ravel or incorporate it, often with deadly result. Moreover, there are ecotoxicological threads which may have two different causes. At first chemical additives like the plasticizer BPA may be released into the environment through the decomposition process [3]. Secondly the surface of the plastics may bind other pollutants from the surrounding water. It is feared that such contaminated particles increase the concentration of pollutants for the maritime organisms by acting as transport vehicle for the pollutants. Though the relevance of plastic being a pollutant vector is not well known yet [4]. Generally, there is a great demand for research on the matter to learn more about the influences of microplastics on ecosystems and to gain knowledge about dangers.
While the problem with plastic waste in the oceans is well known in public since some time, science and society are focused on the problems with so called microplastic now. Microplastic is the term for plastic particles found in the environment with a diameter below 5 mm. With regard to the origin two types of microplastic are differentiated: primary and secondary microplastic. Primary microplastic originates from synthetic materials of microscopic scales, which are produced purposely to serve for several applications like diverse plastic products, for industrial work processes and cosmetic products. The so-called granule, pellets and microbeads get into the environment by different ways, for example via transport or in case of cosmetics through the use of the products. Synthetic materials are mixed into cosmetics in solid and liquid form and are flushed into sewage. The sewage treatment plants may filter some of the microplastic, the rest gets into rivers and finally into the oceans. Even the filtered part may enter the environment, if the sewage sludge is brought to agriculturally used areas. Secondary microplastics originate from fragmentation of larger plastic parts through sun light and mechanical friction. Another source of microplastic is synthetic fibers in clothing, through laundering small plastic parts detach of the clothing and get into the sewage too.
What happens with the microplastics? The particles with a lower density than water swim on the surface and move with the water currents. A large part of the microplastics sediments, i.e. it sinks to floor of rivers and oceans, where organisms incorporate it with widely unknown consequences for the organisms and the ecosystem.
Since some years scientists all over the world try to draw a comprehensive picture of the global microplastics pollution situation. Since the research field is still quite new, several different analytical methods are used, a coherent analytical method has to be defined yet. This results in difficulties with the comparison of the results of different studies. The importance of a standardization in the field of microplastics research is emphasized by many scientists to make studies more comparable.
We, the scientists of the research group of Professor Martin Koch, want to contribute to the development of faster and more liable spectroscopic analysis methods for the microplastics in sediments.
Citizen Lab: Analysis of microplastic in sediment samples at the Citizen Lab for microplastic
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[1] This includes thermoplastic, polyurethane and thermoset (PlasticsEurope (2017). Plastics – The facts).
[2] Source: Jambeck et al (2015). Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean. Scientific article in Marine Pollution.
[3] Source: Brown et al. (2007). Chemie – Die zentrale Wissenschaft. Buch.
[4] Source: Koelmans et al. (2014). Leaching of plastic additives to marine organisms. Scientific article in Environmental Pollution.