PMID- 35421485 OWN - NLM STAT- MEDLINE DCOM- 20220603 LR - 20220603 IS - 1879-1026 (Electronic) IS - 0048-9697 (Linking) VI - 833 DP - 2022 Aug 10 TI - First record of plastiglomerates, pyroplastics, and plasticrusts in South America. PG - 155179 LID - S0048-9697(22)02272-0 [pii] LID - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155179 [doi] AB - Beaches in the Anthropocene carry the heavy burden of human-derived pollution, like that induced by plastic litter. For decades, plastic debris has been classified based on its source or physical size. In recent years, studies described and documented new forms of plastic formations, including plastiglomerates, plasticrusts, and pyroplastics. However, reports of these newly described formations are substantially lacking. Therefore, in the present study, we reported the first evidence of plasticrusts (plastic encrusting rock surfaces), plastiglomerates (organic/inorganic composite materials in a plastic matrix), and pyroplastics (burned and weathered plastics) in Peru. The plastic pollutants were recovered from the field through marine litter surveys on four beaches where illegal litter burning and campfires take place. All the suspected plastic formations were analyzed and confirmed using Fourier transformed infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and one of each type was analyzed by X-Ray fluorescence (EDX) spectrometry. Plastiglomerates consisted of a high-density polyethylene (HDPE) or polypropylene (PP) matrix with rock and sand inclusions. Pyroplastics were found in various stages of weathering and consisted of various polymers, including HDPE, PP, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and polyamide (PA). Interestingly, our field observations suggest a new plasticrust formation pathway based on plastic burning and filling of rock crevices with molten plastic. The latter was identified as either PP or HDPE. Elements typically found in the sand and seawater (e.g., Na, Cl, Ca, Si, Fe) were identified on the surface of the plastic formations, as well as others that could potentially be associated with the leaching of additives (e.g., Ti, Br). Although the present study contributed to the knowledge concerning the occurrence of the new types of plastic formations, as well as possible formation pathways, there are still many questions to answer. Hence, we encourage future studies to focus on the toxicity that new plastic formations may induce in contrast with conventional plastics, the release of secondary contaminants (e.g., microplastics, additives), and their degradation in the environment. Lastly, standardized sampling and data treatment protocols are required. CI - Copyright (c) 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. FAU - De-la-Torre, Gabriel Enrique AU - De-la-Torre GE AD - Grupo de Investigacion de Biodiversidad, Medio Ambiente y Sociedad, Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola, Lima, Peru. Electronic address: gabriel.delatorre@usil.pe. FAU - Pizarro-Ortega, Carlos Ivan AU - Pizarro-Ortega CI AD - Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola, Av. La Fontana 501, Lima 12, Lima, Peru. FAU - Dioses-Salinas, Diana Carolina AU - Dioses-Salinas DC AD - Grupo de Investigacion de Biodiversidad, Medio Ambiente y Sociedad, Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola, Lima, Peru. FAU - Rakib, Md Refat Jahan AU - Rakib MRJ AD - Department of Fisheries and Marine Science, Faculty of Science, Noakhali Science and Technology University, Noakhali, Bangladesh. FAU - Ramos, Williams AU - Ramos W AD - Universidad Nacional de Ingenieria, Av. Tupac Amaru 210, Lima 25, Lima, Peru. FAU - Pretell, Victor AU - Pretell V AD - Universidad Nacional de Ingenieria, Av. Tupac Amaru 210, Lima 25, Lima, Peru. FAU - Ribeiro, Victor Vasques AU - Ribeiro VV AD - Instituto do Mar, Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo, Santos, Brazil. FAU - Castro, Italo Braga AU - Castro IB AD - Instituto do Mar, Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo, Santos, Brazil. FAU - Dobaradaran, Sina AU - Dobaradaran S AD - Systems Environmental Health and Energy Research Center, The Persian Gulf Biomedical Sciences Research Institute, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran; Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Faculty of Health and Nutrition, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran; Instrumental Analytical Chemistry and Centre for Water and Environmental Research (ZWU), Faculty of Chemistry, University of Duisburg-Essen, Universitatsstr. 5, Essen, Germany. LA - eng PT - Journal Article DEP - 20220411 PL - Netherlands TA - Sci Total Environ JT - The Science of the total environment JID - 0330500 RN - 0 (Plastics) RN - 0 (Polypropylenes) RN - 0 (Sand) RN - 0 (Waste Products) RN - 0 (Water Pollutants, Chemical) RN - 9002-88-4 (Polyethylene) SB - IM MH - Environmental Monitoring MH - Humans MH - *Plastics/analysis MH - Polyethylene/analysis MH - Polypropylenes/analysis MH - Sand MH - Waste Products/analysis MH - *Water Pollutants, Chemical/analysis OTO - NOTNLM OT - Debris OT - Degradation OT - Microplastic OT - Plastic OT - Pollution OT - Polymer COIS- Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. EDAT- 2022/04/15 06:00 MHDA- 2022/06/07 06:00 CRDT- 2022/04/14 20:10 PHST- 2021/12/28 00:00 [received] PHST- 2022/04/06 00:00 [revised] PHST- 2022/04/07 00:00 [accepted] PHST- 2022/04/15 06:00 [pubmed] PHST- 2022/06/07 06:00 [medline] PHST- 2022/04/14 20:10 [entrez] AID - S0048-9697(22)02272-0 [pii] AID - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155179 [doi] PST - ppublish SO - Sci Total Environ. 2022 Aug 10;833:155179. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155179. Epub 2022 Apr 11.