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Microplastic Pollution in Ship-Sourced Wastewater: Assessment of Pollution Load Risk for Ballast and Bilge Water
Summary
A study of ship-generated wastewater found substantial microplastic contamination in both ballast water and bilge water, identifying maritime transport as an underappreciated pathway for spreading microplastic pollution across ocean environments. The findings suggest that current international shipping regulations may be insufficient to prevent microplastic dispersal from vessel operations.
The rapid development of maritime transport also causes a number of negative environmental impacts. One of these problems is marine pollution caused by the operation of ships. Pollution from ship sewage includes ballast water (BAL-W) and bilge water (BIL-W), which are regulated under International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships Annex IV. Both BAL-W and BIL-W samples were analysed in the study. Many of the microplastic (MP) particles detected in the BAL-W samples were micro sized, while the majority of MPs found in the BIL-W samples were macro (>0.5 mm) and micro (1 μm-<5 mm) in size. The findings show that MPs constitute the majority (53%) of the plastics analysed, followed by 25% mesoplastics and 11% nanoplastics (NPs). Plastics with a size class of 50-300 μm were most abundant in both BAL-W and BIL-W. For BAL-W and BIL-W sources, the average MP sizes were calculated to be 0.025-4.99±0.050 mm and 0.05-0.1±0.050 mm, respectively. Rubber/commercial (PNEU), polyethylene (PET) terephthalate, polystyrene (PS), and polyoxymethylene (POM) were the most abundant polymer types found in the BIL-W samples, accounting for 47.82%, 10.86%, 9.78%, and 6.55%, respectively, while PNEU and PE were the most abundant polymer types found in the BAL-W samples, accounting for 22.91% and 7.98%, respectively. The pollution load index was calculated 7.75 (Hazard Category IV) and 12.17 (Hazard Category V) for BAL-W and BIL-W waters. It is now clear that the BAL-W management system needs to be evaluated to eliminate MP pollution due to the presence of polymers in BIL-W and BAL-W.
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