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Oceanic Long-Range Transport of Organic Additives Present in Plastic Products – An overview
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This review examined the oceanic long-range transport of chemical additives leaching from marine plastic debris, finding that persistent synthetic polymer matrices release significant quantities of additives — including plasticizers, flame retardants, and antioxidants — that can travel globally via ocean currents.
Most plastics are made of persistent synthetic polymer matrices that contain chemical additives in significant amounts. Millions of tonnes of plastics are produced every year and a significant amount of this plastic enters the marine environment, either as macro- or microplastics. In this article, an overview is given of the presence of marine plastic debris globally and its potential to reach remote locations in combination with an analysis of the oceanic long-range transport potential of organic additives present in plastic debris. The information gathered shows that leaching of hydrophobic substances from plastic is slow in the ocean, whereas more polar substances leach faster but mostly from the surface layers of the particle. Their high content used in plastic of several percent by weight allows also these chemicals to be transported over long distances without being completely depleted along the way. It is therefore likely that various types of additives reach remote locations with plastic debris. As a consequence, birds or other wildlife that ingest plastic debris are exposed to these substances, as leaching is accelerated in warm-blooded organisms compared to leaching in water. Our estimates show that approximately 8’100–18’900 t of various organic additives are transported with buoyant plastic matrices globally with a significant portion also transported to the Arctic. For many of these chemicals, long-range transport (LRT) by plastic as a carrier is their only means of travelling over long distances without degrading, resulting in plastic debris enabling the LRT of chemicals which otherwise would not reach polar environments with unknown consequences. The transport of organic additives via plastic debris is an additional long-range transport route that should also be considered under the Stockholm Convention.
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Oceanic long-range transport of organic additives present in plastic products: an overview
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Researchers analyzed how chemical additives — such as flame retardants and plasticizers — leach slowly from floating plastic debris and can be carried by ocean currents to remote regions like the Arctic, estimating that roughly 8,100 to 18,900 tonnes of these chemicals travel globally via plastic each year. The study highlights plastic debris as a long-range transport vehicle for toxic chemicals that would otherwise break down before reaching polar ecosystems.
Correspondence regarding the Perspective “Addressing the importance of microplastic particles as vectors for long-range transport of chemical contaminants: perspective in relation to prioritizing research and regulatory actions”
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This correspondence clarifies important aspects of the long-range environmental transport of chemical additives contained in floating plastic debris, providing additional context to a previously published perspective on microplastics as vectors for chemical contaminant transport. The letter addresses how plastic-associated chemicals contribute to the global redistribution of persistent pollutants via ocean currents.
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This comment paper clarifies important points about the long-range transport of chemical additives leaching from floating plastic debris. The authors argue that the role of plastic as a vector for chemical contaminants needs more careful scientific framing.
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