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Microplastic litter in the Dutch marine environment: Providing facts and analysis for Dutch policymakers concerned with marine microplastic litter
Summary
This Dutch government-commissioned report reviews what scientists currently know about microplastic pollution in the North Sea, aiming to help policymakers track and manage tiny plastic fragments in our oceans. While the report focuses mainly on environmental monitoring rather than direct human health effects, it matters to us because microplastics in the sea can enter the food chain through fish and seafood we eat, and better tracking is the first step toward understanding and reducing that risk.
Marine environments all over the world are contaminated with marine litter, mainly plastics.The Netherlands has raised the subject of the 'plastic soup' problem at UNEP and the EU Environment Council.As well as large plastic debris, there is growing concern about tiny plastic fragments known as microplastics.Microplastics are part of the overall marine litter issue, which is attracting attention not only from national and international authorities, but also NGOs, the media, scientists, consumers, artists, the plastics industry and others.Microplastics are an important factor in the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD 2008/56/EC), which is closely linked with monitoring work currently being performed by the OSPAR Commission.The MSFD aims to establish a framework within which member states take measures to achieve or maintain good environmental status (GES) in the marine environment by 2020.One of the eleven qualitative descriptors for determining GES under the MSFD is: "Properties and quantities of marine litter do not cause harm to the coastal and marine environment" (known as 'Descriptor 10').This definition includes microparticles (particularly microplastics).However, indicators for MSFD Descriptor 10 need to be developed further and used in assessments in Europe.Current MSFD-supporting developments regarding the use of microplastics as indicators have had a major impact on the focus of this report.The Netherlands launched a fact-finding project to establish what we actually know about the monitoring and effects of microplastics, focusing on the North Sea region.The results are presented in this report prepared jointly by Deltares and the Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM) at VU University Amsterdam.The project aims to provide information that the Dutch authorities can use in order to define and assess the microplastics issue in the wider North Sea region and to devise action plans to address it and contribute to global solutions.