PMID- 21742351
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20111114
LR  - 20121115
IS  - 1879-3363 (Electronic)
IS  - 0025-326X (Linking)
VI  - 62
IP  - 8
DP  - 2011 Aug
TI  - Microplastics in the marine environment.
PG  - 1596-605
LID - 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2011.05.030 [doi]
AB  - This review discusses the mechanisms of generation and potential impacts of 
      microplastics in the ocean environment. Weathering degradation of plastics on the 
      beaches results in their surface embrittlement and microcracking, yielding 
      microparticles that are carried into water by wind or wave action. Unlike 
      inorganic fines present in sea water, microplastics concentrate persistent 
      organic pollutants (POPs) by partition. The relevant distribution coefficients 
      for common POPs are several orders of magnitude in favour of the plastic medium. 
      Consequently, the microparticles laden with high levels of POPs can be ingested 
      by marine biota. Bioavailability and the efficiency of transfer of the ingested 
      POPs across trophic levels are not known and the potential damage posed by these 
      to the marine ecosystem has yet to be quantified and modelled. Given the 
      increasing levels of plastic pollution of the oceans it is important to better 
      understand the impact of microplastics in the ocean food web.
CI  - Copyright (c) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
FAU - Andrady, Anthony L
AU  - Andrady AL
AD  - Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State 
      University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA. andrady@andrady.com
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Review
DEP - 20110713
PL  - England
TA  - Mar Pollut Bull
JT  - Marine pollution bulletin
JID - 0260231
RN  - 0 (Plastics)
RN  - 0 (Water Pollutants)
SB  - IM
MH  - Animals
MH  - Aquatic Organisms/drug effects/growth & development/metabolism
MH  - Biota
MH  - Environmental Monitoring/*methods
MH  - Food Chain
MH  - *Marine Biology
MH  - Oceans and Seas
MH  - Particle Size
MH  - Plastics/*analysis/chemistry/toxicity
MH  - Water Pollutants/*analysis/chemistry/toxicity
EDAT- 2011/07/12 06:00
MHDA- 2011/11/15 06:00
CRDT- 2011/07/12 06:00
PHST- 2011/04/15 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2011/05/18 00:00 [revised]
PHST- 2011/05/30 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2011/07/12 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2011/07/12 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2011/11/15 06:00 [medline]
AID - S0025-326X(11)00305-5 [pii]
AID - 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2011.05.030 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Mar Pollut Bull. 2011 Aug;62(8):1596-605. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2011.05.030. 
      Epub 2011 Jul 13.