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Fire and Oil Led to Complex Mixtures of PAHs on Burnt and Unburnt Plastic during the M/V X-Press Pearl Disaster
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Researchers examined how microplastic fibers affect the feeding and burrowing behavior of intertidal lugworms, finding that fiber ingestion reduced feeding activity and led to compaction of sediment in the animals' burrows. The behavioral changes were consistent with satiation from non-nutritive plastic particles and reduced bioturbation with potential implications for sediment ecosystem functions.
In May 2021, the M/V X-Press Pearl container ship burned for 2 weeks, leading to the largest maritime spill of resin pellets (nurdles). The disaster was exacerbated by the leakage of other cargo and the ship's underway fuel. This disaster affords the unique opportunity to study a time-stamped, geolocated release of plastic under real-world conditions. Field samples collected from beaches in Sri Lanka nearest to the ship comprised nurdles exposed to heat and combustion, burnt plastic pieces (pyroplastic), and oil-plastic agglomerates (petroplastic). An unresolved question is whether the 1600+ tons of spilled and recovered plastic should be considered hazardous waste. Due to the known formation and toxicity of combustion-derived polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), we measured 20 parent and 21 alkylated PAHs associated with several types of spilled plastic. The maximum PAH content of the sampled pyroplastic had the greatest amount of PAHs recorded for marine plastic debris (199,000 ng/g). In contrast, the sampled unburnt white nurdles had two orders of magnitude less PAH content. The PAH composition varied between the types of spilled plastic and presented features typical of and conflicting with petrogenic and pyrogenic sources. Nevertheless, specific markers and compositional changes for burning plastics were identified, revealing that the fire was the main source of PAHs. Eight months after the spill, the PAH contents of sampled stray nurdles and pyroplastic were reduced by more than 50%. Due to their PAH content exceeding levels allowable for plastic consumer goods, classifying burnt plastic as hazardous waste may be warranted. Following a largely successful cleanup, we recommend that the Sri Lankans re-evaluate the identification, handling, and disposal of the plastic debris collected from beaches and the potential exposure of responders and the public to PAHs from handling it. The maritime disaster underscores pyroplastic as a type of plastic pollution that has yet to be fully explored, despite the pervasiveness of intentional and unintentional burning of plastic globally.
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The M/V X-Press Pearl Nurdle Spill: Contamination of Burnt Plastic and Unburnt Nurdles along Sri Lanka’s Beaches
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This study characterized the unprecedented complexity of the 2021 M/V X-Press Pearl nurdle spill off Sri Lanka, where combustion transformed plastic into chemically complex burnt debris containing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and petroleum-derived compounds. Visibly burnt plastic was three-fold more chemically complex than unburnt nurdles, complicating cleanup and environmental impact assessment.
Divergent Forms of Pyroplastic: Lessons Learned from the M/V X-Press Pearl Ship Fire
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Researchers examined microplastic ingestion by deep-sea amphipods from hadal trenches, detecting particles in individuals from among the most remote sampling locations in the world's ocean. The study demonstrates that microplastic contamination has reached the deepest oceanic habitats on Earth, with ingestion rates comparable to or exceeding those of coastal-dwelling species.
Plastics, Nurdles, and Pyrogenic Microplastics in the Coastal Marine Environment
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Researchers examined plastic nurdle pollution and pyrogenic microplastics in coastal marine environments, with a focus on the MV X-Press Pearl cargo ship fire in Sri Lanka — the largest plastic-based maritime disaster from a single vessel in history, involving nearly 12,000 metric tonnes of plastic materials. The study documented the types and distribution of floating debris, nurdles, and fire-altered pyrogenic microplastics generated by the shipwreck along Sri Lankan coastlines.
Plastitar and pyroplastics as emerging vectors of coastal pollution: Chemical identification from Panjang Island (Java Sea) and Palm Beach, Florida
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Researchers chemically characterized plastitar and pyroplastic samples from coastal sites in Indonesia and Florida using infrared spectroscopy and two-dimensional gas chromatography, finding that Panjang Island samples contained some of the highest concentrations of PAHs ever reported in marine plastic debris—up to 247,951 ng/g—alongside elevated phthalates, highlighting these thermally altered plastic-tar hybrids as potent dual carriers of physical and chemical contamination.
Plastiglomerates from uncontrolled burning of plastic waste on Indonesian beaches contain high contents of organic pollutants
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Researchers examined plastiglomerates — rocks fused with melted plastic — from Indonesian beaches where plastic waste is burned openly, finding high concentrations of toxic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and phthalates in the samples. The burning process makes plastics more brittle and prone to breaking into microplastics, while also creating new mobile pollution forms that can carry chemical contaminants into nearby coral reefs and coastal habitats.
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