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Plastic pellet pollution is a type of marine debris originating from plastic particles utilized in manufacturing large-scale plastics. These pre-production plastic pellets, sometimes referred to as nurdles with reference to plastic pollution, are created separately from the user plastics they are melted down to form, and pellet loss is incurred during both the manufacturing and transport stages. These plastics are released into the open environment, creating pollution in the oceans and on beaches.


Description

Plastic resin pellets are classified as primary source
microplastics Microplastics are fragments of any type of plastic less than in length, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the European Chemicals Agency. They cause pollution by entering natural ecosystems from a v ...
, meaning that they were intentionally produced at the size ranging from 1–5 mm in diameter. There are two types of microplastics: primary microplastics and secondary microplastics. Primary microplastics are released directly into the environment, like microbeads and preproduction plastic pellets. Secondary microplastics are created through photodegradation and weathering of larger pieces of plastic, like water bottles and fishing nets.  Primary microplastics make up between 15% to 31% of marine microplastics. Marine pollution is growing due to large-scale plastic producing corporations.  In general, the production of plastic is continuing to increase an average of about 8% each year. Because there is more plastic produced, more litter pollution will end up in waterways. Nurdles are the second largest source of microplastics in the ocean. Approximately 27 million
tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000  kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...
s (60 billion pounds) of nurdles are manufactured annually in the United States. One pound of pelletized
HDPE High-density polyethylene (HDPE) or polyethylene high-density (PEHD) is a thermoplastic polymer produced from the monomer ethylene. It is sometimes called "alkathene" or "polythene" when used for HDPE pipes. With a high strength-to-density ratio, ...
contains approximately 25,000 nurdles (approximately 20  mg per nurdle). They are typically under in diameter. A study on a polyethylene production facility in Sweden found that between 3 and 36 million of plastic pellets enter the environment from production sites every year. These nurdles spill during transportation and production and due to inadequate precautions and regulations, millions of pellets of plastic end up in nearby waterways and eventually the ocean.


Environmental impact

Nurdles are a major contributor to marine debris. During a three-month study of
Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...
beaches researchers found them to be the most common beach contaminant. Nurdles on bathing beaches in East Lothian, Scotland have been shown to be covered with E. coli and
Vibrio ''Vibrio'' is a genus of Gram-negative bacteria, possessing a curved-rod (comma) shape, several species of which can cause foodborne infection, usually associated with eating undercooked seafood. Being highly salt tolerant and unable to survive ...
biofilm A biofilm comprises any syntrophic consortium of microorganisms in which cells stick to each other and often also to a surface. These adherent cells become embedded within a slimy extracellular matrix that is composed of extracellular ...
s, according to a 2019 study. Waterborne nurdles may either be a raw material of plastic production, or from larger chunks of plastics. A major concentration of plastic may be the Great Pacific garbage patch, a growing collection of marine debris known for its high concentrations of plastic litter. Nurdles that escape from the plastic production process into waterways or oceans have become a significant source of ocean and beach
plastic pollution Plastic pollution is the accumulation of plastic objects and particles (e.g. plastic bottles, bags and microbeads) in the Earth's environment that adversely affects humans, wildlife and their habitat. Plastics that act as pollutants are catego ...
. Plastic pellet pollution that has been monitored in studies is mainly found in the sediments and beach areas and is usually
polyethylene Polyethylene or polythene (abbreviated PE; IUPAC name polyethene or poly(methylene)) is the most commonly produced plastic. It is a polymer, primarily used for packaging ( plastic bags, plastic films, geomembranes and containers including b ...
or
polypropylene Polypropylene (PP), also known as polypropene, is a thermoplastic polymer used in a wide variety of applications. It is produced via chain-growth polymerization from the monomer propylene. Polypropylene belongs to the group of polyolefins a ...
, the two main plastic polymers found in microplastic pollution. Nurdles have frequently been found in the
digestive tract The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The GI tract contains all the major organs of the digestive system, in humans and ...
s of various marine creatures, causing physiological damage by
leaching Leaching is the loss or extraction of certain materials from a carrier into a liquid (usually, but not always a solvent). and may refer to: * Leaching (agriculture), the loss of water-soluble plant nutrients from the soil; or applying a small amou ...
plasticizers such as
phthalates Phthalates (, ), or phthalate esters, are esters of phthalic acid. They are mainly used as plasticizers, i.e., substances added to plastics to increase their flexibility, transparency, durability, and longevity. They are used primarily to soften ...
. Nurdles can carry two types of micropollutants in the marine environment: native plastic additives and
hydrophobic In chemistry, hydrophobicity is the physical property of a molecule that is seemingly repelled from a mass of water (known as a hydrophobe). In contrast, hydrophiles are attracted to water. Hydrophobic molecules tend to be nonpolar and, t ...
pollutants absorbed from seawater. For example, concentrations of
PCB PCB may refer to: Science and technology * Polychlorinated biphenyl, an organic chlorine compound, now recognized as an environmental toxin and classified as a persistent organic pollutant * Printed circuit board, a board used in electronics * ...
s and DDE on nurdles collected from Japanese coastal waters were found to be up to 1 million times higher than the levels detected in surrounding seawater. Plastic
microbead Microbeads are manufactured solid plastic particles of less than one millimeter in their largest dimension. They are most frequently made of polyethylene but can be of other petrochemical plastics such as polypropylene and polystyrene. They are u ...
s used in cosmetic exfoliating products are also found in water.


Incidents


2012

San Francisco Bay Coastal Cleanup from multiple nurdle spills. In
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
, after being blown by Typhoon Vicente on 24 July 2012, some containers belonging to Chinese oil giant
Sinopec China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (中国石油化工股份有限公司) or Sinopec (), is a Chinese oil and gas enterprise based in Beijing. It is listed in Hong Kong and also trades in Shanghai. Sinopec Limited's parent, Sinopec ...
which were carrying over 150 tonnes of plastic pellets were blown into the sea, washing up on southern Hong Kong coasts, such as
Shek O Shek O is an area of the south-eastern part of Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong. It can refers to Shek O village or Shek O Peninsula or Shek O Headland. Administratively, they are part of Southern District. Geography The name "Shek O" literal ...
,
Cheung Chau Cheung Chau (lit. "Long Island") is an island southwest of Hong Kong Island. It is nicknamed the 'dumbbell island (啞鈴島)' due to its shape. It has been inhabited for longer than most other places in Hong Kong, and had a population of ...
,
Ma Wan Ma Wan is an island of Hong Kong, located between Lantau Island and Tsing Yi Island, with an area of .Lamma Island Lamma Island, also known as Y Island or Pok Liu Chau or simply Pok Liu, is the third largest island in Hong Kong. Administratively, it is part of the Islands District. Name Lamma Island was named Lamma only because of a chart reading error by ...
. Though nurdles are not toxic or hazardous on their own according to Sinopec, the spill disrupted marine life and is being credited with killing stocks of fish on fish farms.


2017

A nurdle spill of about two billion nurdles (49 tons) from a
shipping container A shipping container is a container with strength suitable to withstand shipment, storage, and handling. Shipping containers range from large reusable steel boxes used for intermodal shipments to the ubiquitous corrugated boxes. In the context of ...
in
Durban Harbor Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...
required extended cleanup efforts. These nurdles have also been spotted washing up on the shore in
Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
. The Great Nurdle Hunt, which occurred June 2–5, 2017, across the United Kingdom drew attention to the issue of plastic pellet pollution. A program started by Fidra, a Scottish environmental charity, sourced information on nurdles from citizens across the region using shared photos to better understand the makeup of pollution across beaches in the UK. The nurdle hunts occurring earlier in 2017 determined that 73% of UK beaches had nurdle pollution.


2018

A semi-truck crash led to the release of bright blue colored nurdles into
Pocono Creek Pocono Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of Brodhead Creek in the Poconos of eastern Pennsylvania in the United States.Gertler, Edward. ''K ...
and the waterways of the
Lehigh Valley The Lehigh Valley (), known colloquially as The Valley, is a geographic region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh County and Northampton County in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a component valley of the Great Appalachian Valley bound to the no ...
, Pennsylvania.


2020

During a thunderstorm on August 20, a shipping container with 25 tons of nurdles arriving from Asia fell off the CMA CGM Bianca ship into the
Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...
in New Orleans. No official clean up took place. Hazardous material spills are in coast guard jurisdiction, but nurdles are not classified as hazardous material. The Department of Environmental Quality does not find it clear as to who is responsible for cleaning up the spill.


2021

On 2 June 2021 the cargo ship sank off the coast of Sri Lanka, spilling chemicals and microplastic nurdles and causing the worst environmental disaster in the country's history.


Current progress and solutions

Of the 300 million tons of plastic material produced each year, over 14 million tons end up in the ocean, and plastic production in continuing to increase. Marine litter as a whole is imposing environmental threats to marine ecosystems and policy solutions are crucial to better the ocean. * The plastic industry has responded to the increased interest and concern for plastic pellet loss and pollution sources. Operation Clean Sweep was created by SPI: The Plastics Industry Trade Association in 2001 and joined by the
American Chemistry Council American Chemistry Council (ACC), formerly known as the Manufacturing Chemists' Association (at its founding in 1872) and then as the Chemical Manufacturers' Association (from 1978 until 2000), is an industry trade association for American chemic ...
with the goal of zero pellet loss for plastic manufacturers. This voluntary stewardship program provides its members with a manual which guides them through ways in which they can reduce pellet loss within their own facilities and provides the necessary training. However, the program does not require companies to keep or report any data on pellet spills. * In 2007 California passed AB 258, which established measures that preproduction plastic producing manufacturers had to follow during the production and transport of plastic pellets. This preventative measure includes inspections by the Regional and State Water Board staff and enforcement of orderly production and transportation of preproduction plastic to minimize the amount of plastic resin pellets spills. * In 2008, California passed a "nurdle law", which "specifically names pre-production plastic pellets (nurdles) as a pollutant". * In 2015, the Microbead-Free Waters Act passed, which prohibits the manufacturing and distribution of primary plastic microbeads for cosmetic products. This ban will reduce the amount of plastic pellets that end up in oceans by preventing microbead particles from being used in cosmetic care products.


Actions for creating awareness

On April 11, 2013, in order to create awareness, artist Maria Cristina Finucci founded The Garbage Patch State at
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
in Paris in front of Director General Irina Bokova. It is the first of a series of events under the patronage of
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
and of Italian Ministry of the Environment. The Great Nurdle Hunt is a citizen science project that maps out plastic pellet pollution globally. The data collected is used to actively engage with industry and policy-makers to develop solutions to prevent further pellet pollution.


See also

*
Microbead Microbeads are manufactured solid plastic particles of less than one millimeter in their largest dimension. They are most frequently made of polyethylene but can be of other petrochemical plastics such as polypropylene and polystyrene. They are u ...
*
Microplastics Microplastics are fragments of any type of plastic less than in length, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the European Chemicals Agency. They cause pollution by entering natural ecosystems from a v ...


References


Further reading

* * {{marine pollution Plastics industry Ocean pollution Plastics and the environment