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Oceans

Microplastics in the seas

Concern is rising about widespread contamination of the marine environment by microplastics.
Science
11 Jul 2014
Vol 345, Issue 6193
pp. 144-145

Abstract

Plastic debris in the marine environment is more than just an unsightly problem. Images of beach litter and large floating debris may first come to mind, but much recent concern about plastic pollution has focused on microplastic particles too small to be easily detected by eye (see the figure). Microplastics are likely the most numerically abundant items of plastic debris in the ocean today, and quantities will inevitably increase, in part because large, single plastic items ultimately degrade into millions of microplastic pieces. Microplastics are of environmental concern because their size (millimeters or smaller) renders them accessible to a wide range of organisms at least as small as zooplankton, with potential for physical and toxicological harm.

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Published In

Science
Volume 345 | Issue 6193
11 July 2014

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Published in print: 11 July 2014

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Authors

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Kara Lavender Law
Department of Oceanography, Sea Education Association, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA.
Richard C. Thompson
School of Marine Science and Engineering, Plymouth University, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK.

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