Article
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Tier 2
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Original research — experimental, observational, or case-control study. Direct primary evidence.
Marine & Wildlife
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Plastic waste discharge to the global ocean constrained by seawater observations
Nature Communications2023
108 citations
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Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count.
Score: 55
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0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.
Lili Lei,
Qiaotong Pang,
Yanxu Zhang,
Lei Mai
Lei Mai
Lei Mai
Lei Mai
Lei Mai
Lei Mai
Lei Mai
Lei Mai
Peipei Wu,
Eric P. Chassignet,
Xiaobiao Xu,
Lili Lei,
Lei Mai
Ruochong Xu,
Qiaotong Pang,
Xiaobiao Xu,
Eric P. Chassignet,
Yanxu Zhang,
Ruochong Xu,
Lili Lei,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Lei Mai
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Lei Mai
Lei Mai
Lei Mai
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Lei Mai
Peipei Wu,
Ruochong Xu,
Lei Mai
Lei Mai
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Xuantong Wang,
Ruochong Xu,
Lili Lei,
Lei Mai
Amina T. Schartup,
Yanxu Zhang,
Yanxu Zhang,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Lili Lei,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Lei Mai
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Lei Mai
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Lei Mai
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Peipei Wu,
Xuantong Wang,
Amina T. Schartup,
Huan Liu,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Lili Lei,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Lei Mai
Lei Mai
Yanxu Zhang,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Lei Mai
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Arjen Luijendijk,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Lei Mai
Lei Mai
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Amina T. Schartup,
Yanxu Zhang,
Lei Mai
Lei Mai
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Xiaotong Wang,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Lili Lei,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Huizhong Shen,
Yiming Peng,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Qiaotong Pang,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Xinle Wang,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Xiaotong Wang,
Xiaotong Wang,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Lei Mai
Xiaotong Wang,
Ruwei Wang,
Ruwei Wang,
Qiaotong Pang,
Qiaotong Pang,
Qiaotong Pang,
Huan Liu,
Yanxu Zhang,
Huizhong Shen,
Xiaotong Wang,
Arjen Luijendijk,
Eric P. Chassignet,
Xiaobiao Xu,
Huizhong Shen,
Shuxiu Zheng,
Shuxiu Zheng,
Eddy Y. Zeng,
Yanxu Zhang,
Lei Mai
Lei Mai
Summary
Researchers used ocean plastic concentration data combined with multiple ocean circulation models to estimate that approximately 0.7 million metric tons of plastic enter the ocean each year, though uncertainty spans nearly 1.5 orders of magnitude. The study emphasizes that improving emission inventories and ocean monitoring data are the highest priorities for reducing uncertainty in global plastic pollution estimates.
Marine plastic pollution poses a potential threat to the ecosystem, but the sources and their magnitudes remain largely unclear. Existing bottom-up emission inventories vary among studies for two to three orders of magnitudes (OMs). Here, we adopt a top-down approach that uses observed dataset of sea surface plastic concentrations and an ensemble of ocean transport models to reduce the uncertainty of global plastic discharge. The optimal estimation of plastic emissions in this study varies about 1.5 OMs: 0.70 (0.13-3.8 as a 95% confidence interval) million metric tons yr<sup>-1</sup> at the present day. We find that the variability of surface plastic abundance caused by different emission inventories is higher than that caused by model parameters. We suggest that more accurate emission inventories, more data for the abundance in the seawater and other compartments, and more accurate model parameters are required to further reduce the uncertainty of our estimate.