Introduction
Globally, the amount of plastic produced since the 1950s has reached 8,300 million tons with an annual growth rate of 4%. By inefficient use about 60%, ie 5,000 million tons of this quantity is taken out of use and appears in the form of plastic waste. The big problem for the environment is that of this quantity of 5,000 million tons, only a part is stored in relatively ecological conditions, the rest of 2-3,000 million tons is thrown uncontrolled in the environment.
This huge amount of plastic waste under the action of physical factors (temperature, light, humidity) suffers a continuous degradation and a fragmentation reaching smaller and smaller dimensions. The result of these processes is called MP microplastics (with dimensions between 5mm-1nm).
In total, from the losses from the arranged deposits and through the degradation of the existing plastic quantity and taking into account the final destination, it is estimated that annually enters in the form of microplastics pollution in the seas and oceans of the world a quantity of 11 million tons of microplastics.
Plastic pollution
Plastic pollution is the most common type of pollution, significant in quantity because there is already a huge amount of existing plastic waste (5,000 million tons) to which is added annually a quantity of 40 million tons with the final destination the seas and oceans of the world.
Fig.1 A sample of the seawater column full of organic and microplastic debris
Fig. 1 shows a seawater sample full of organic and microplastic waste (fragments of plastic waste less than 5 mm in size).
The special problem is that by continuously fragmenting existing plastic waste, microplastics reach nanometric dimensions that are particularly difficult to isolate and analyze, so most fragments (plastic particles) are “invisible” and can not assess the effects on marine organisms and in the end on man.
An evaluation of the component of the existing plastic waste reveals a mixture of synthetic polymers in different proportions shown in figure 2:
Fig.2 Estimated component of plastic waste.
Microplastics and nanoplastics
Plastic waste, especially microplastics, severely pollutes the environment, but especially the marine environment as the final destination of all discharges and spills resulting from human activities.
In the marine environment microplastics appear in different forms such as: microspheres, fragments, agglomerations, fibers, films, foam. Once the microplastics reach the sea water, they are kept in the water column and the heaviest ones are deposited on the bottom in the form of sediment.
The nanometric (10-9m) component of macroplastics is called nanoplastic.
Nanoplastics, due to their size, are at the border of the microcosm and therefore are very difficult to analyze and quantify, requiring new and very expensive technologies.
At nanometric dimensions, looking for particles in seawater or sediment is like “looking for a needle in a haystack. But the big problem is that you can’t tell which is the needle and which is the fan. ” Consequently, nanoplastics are a great unknown, remaining a great potentially difficult hazard to assess at present.
Pollution with microplastics on the Black Sea coast and in the territorial waters of Romania
Romanian specialists from GeoEcoMar in partnership with German and British specialists conducted a study of the presence of microplastics on the west coast of the Black Sea and on the Danube from the source to its discharge through the Danube Delta into the Black Sea.
The results collected in sediment in 11 points along the coast of Romania and Bulgaria at the Black Sea and in 9 points in the territorial waters of Romania and Bulgaria attest to the presence of microplastic particles in significant quantities (figure 3).
Thus, when the Danube flows through the Sulina arm and in the Corbu Midia coastal area, concentrations of 600 microplastic particles per kilogram were found, and in the rest of the coastal area, concentrations varying between 150-300 particles / kilogram, illustrated in fig.3.
Fig.3 The amount of microplastics existing on the Black Sea coast
The effects of microplastic pollution
The environmental risks of various plastics and their associated chemicals, especially nanometer-sized particles, still remain largely unknown due to the complexity of the equipment and technologies required for the analysis.
However, the presence of microplastics in significant quantities in the waters of rivers and seas and oceans, respectively, and the impossibility of distinguishing organic matter from microplastics for marine life have caused them to enter the food chains of biodiversity.
At present there are microplastic particles in the water, in the soil, in the air, in our diet, we are practically assaulted by these microplastics, Once in the food chains, there is a danger of nanoplasts entering tissues and organs without yet knowing the danger of disrupting metabolic functions or even the genetic structure of organisms.
Conclusions
Plastic pollution is a special environmental problem not only due to the exponential growth of the phenomenon but also through many unknowns of the effects of this true “assault of microplastics”.
Perhaps worse is the fact that due to the “historical pollution” of about 5,000 million tons of plastic waste, the size of this pollution will triple by 2040 and even if the most effective measures would be taken, such as (stopping the production of plastics, redesign, alternative materials, total change of the waste management system), plastic pollution will be maintained at 40 million tons per year for a long time.
The environmental problem is even more complex if we take into account the fact that if radical measures are not taken regarding the production, use but especially the management of plastic waste, the amount of microplastics reached in the seas and oceans of the world can triple and reach 2040 about 29 million tons, ie 50 kg. plastic for every meter of shore.
Bibliography
- EP (EC) DIRECTIVE 2019/904 on the reduction of the impact of certain products from plastic on the environment http://www.mmediu.ro
- “Diminishing the plastic wave” https://www.pewtrusts.org ›articles› 2020/07/23 ›bre
- “Concentration of sedimentary microplastics on the Danube and on the Black Sea coast” https://www.researchgate.net ›publication› 348650579
Author: Muntoiu Alexandru – ECOM Team Romania
