Knapp Laustsen (mosquewool64)
Underwater survey was conducted to assess the accumulation and impact of marine debris in the reef areas of Gulf of Mannar in southeast India. A combination of roving diver technique and belt transect method was applied for the assessment, which was conducted during the period between February 2018 and March 2019. An estimated total reef area of 1152 m2 has been affected by marine debris. Abandoned fishing nets were found to constitute the major portion of 43.17 ± 5.48% of the marine debris. Live corals were found to be dominant substrates for marine debris with 39.11%. The average prevalence of coral colonies in contact with marine debris was 3.28 ± 0.27%. Prevalence of corals in contact with debris was very high in genus Acropora with 8.23 ± 1.29% followed by Montipora with 4.63 ± 1.29% due to their complex growth form. Of the corals in contact with debris, 47.56% were fragmented and 34% were found with tissue loss. Small plastic particles are considered emerging pollutants, and this has motivated a considerable number of studies to establish their environmental consequences. At present, the study of the effects of nanoplastics (NPs) on aquatic organisms is still scarce, especially in organisms from higher trophic levels such as fish. This review describes the effects reported in different fish species after exposure to plastic particles smaller than 100 nm. Studies show that NPs can adversely affect fish at different stages of development, with reported accumulation in tissues, decreased locomotor and foraging activities, effects on growth and the immune system and alterations on lipid metabolism and neurotoxicity. However, mortality, effects on hatching success or malformations related to NPs have not been reported to this date. see more Plastic litter is an increasingly significant problem in the marine environment. Our study looks at a cost-effective method to quantify larger fractions of microplastics in marine sediments as an opportunistic addition to standard benthic infauna sampling. A subsample of microplastics (>1 mm) were enumerated and categorised from sediment samples collected as part of standard benthic habitat monitoring in twenty-two Marine Protected Areas across English inshore waters. Microplastic particles were found in 61.2% of the samples collected, with mean density per study site ranging from 0.2 in Dover to Deal MCZ to 42.7 in The Mersey Estuary Special Protection Area microplastic particles per 0.1 m2. High densities of plastic were found at remote sites, as well as those closer to urban or industrialised areas. Spatial protection measures such as MPAs are not themselves a suitable tool to tackle marine plastic pollution which should be addressed upstream at source. Crown All rights reserved.Plastic resin pellets were collected from coastal areas (n = 7) of central Chile. Pellets were analyzed using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy for polymer identification and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) determination. Screened compounds were PBDEs (n = 10), PCBs (n = 7), and OCPs (n = 13). Pellets were only found at Lenga Beach (San Vicente Bay), which is likely influenced by the presence of industrial activities in the surrounding coastal area. The diameter of the pellets was 4.0 ± 0.6 cm (n = 370), the color varied from white (32%) to yellowing (68%), and the most prevalent polymer identified was high-density polyethylene (99%). POPs concentrations (ng/g-pellet) ranged from 10 to 133 for Ʃ10PBDEs, from 3 to 60 for Ʃ7PCBs and between 0.1 and 7 for DDTs. Levels of POPs are consistent with other investigations around the world and highlight the sorbtion capacity of plastics resin pellets, and consequently transport of POPs into coastal environments. This article presents a literature review of solid waste management on cruise ships u