Microplastics, Marine Debris, and Marine Green Contamination

The discovery of microplastics throughout the marine ecosystem has attracted increasing attention. This chapter presents the classification of plastics ranging from fragments to microplastic sizes, the primary and secondary sources of microplastics, and their impact on marine ecology. The chapter also reveals that continuing improper disposal of plastics is the major source of microplastics in the sea. Marine debris threatens the health of lakes and streams, where fish and other aquatic species depend on large amounts of oxygen to live. Marine greens are marine macroalgae; basically, they are internally plant-like organisms that typically inhabit coastal regions. Various communities of scarlet, brown, and green macroalgae make up the majority of them. The study shows that marine greens, to a certain degree, can adapt and also regulate the chemical and physical characteristics of soil. Pollution of marine greens is caused by chemical spills, oil spills, operational discharges, decommissioning of disused installations, dredging of sediment, and dumping at sea. As a means of mitigating the deterioration in the marine ecosystem attributed to microplastics, the sources of pollutants should be removed; pollutants can also be removed along the way, when the pollutant is released, or at the sink, when the pollutant has entered the sea. Policies backing disposal should be strengthened. This chapter provides an insight into marine debris and marine green contamination, and suggests improving the response of industry to environmental and marine sensitivity when carrying out its activities, and controlling the production of microplastics from the source to solve the contamination of marine environments.