Currently monitored microplastics pose negligible ecological risk to the global ocean

Abstract Given the rise in plastic production, microplastics (MP) dominate marine debris, and their impact on marine ecosystems will likely increase. However a global quantitative assessment of this risk is still lacking. We conducted an ecological risk assessment of MP in the global ocean by compar...

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Autores principales:	Ricardo Beiras, Alexandre M. Schönemann
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2020
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/c1762981403844db9e27432c6f26464f
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:c1762981403844db9e27432c6f26464f2021-12-02T11:57:57ZCurrently monitored microplastics pose negligible ecological risk to the global ocean10.1038/s41598-020-79304-z2045-2322https://doaj.org/article/c1762981403844db9e27432c6f26464f2020-12-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-79304-zhttps://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Given the rise in plastic production, microplastics (MP) dominate marine debris, and their impact on marine ecosystems will likely increase. However a global quantitative assessment of this risk is still lacking. We conducted an ecological risk assessment of MP in the global ocean by comparing the thresholds of biological effects with the probability of exposure to those concentrations, according to plastic density data adjusted to a log-normal distribution. Levels of MP from 100 to 5000 µm span from < 0.0001 to 1.89 mg/L, whereas the most conservative safe concentration is 13.8 mg/L, and probability of exposure is p = 0.00004. Therefore large MP pose negligible global risk. However, MP bioavailability, translocation and toxicity increase as size decreases, and particles < 10 µm are not identified by current monitoring methods. Future research should target the lowest size fractions of MP and nanoplastics, and use in toxicity testing environmental plastic particles rather than engineered materials.Ricardo BeirasAlexandre M. SchönemannNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 10, Iss 1, Pp 1-9 (2020)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Ricardo Beiras Alexandre M. Schönemann Currently monitored microplastics pose negligible ecological risk to the global ocean
description	Abstract Given the rise in plastic production, microplastics (MP) dominate marine debris, and their impact on marine ecosystems will likely increase. However a global quantitative assessment of this risk is still lacking. We conducted an ecological risk assessment of MP in the global ocean by comparing the thresholds of biological effects with the probability of exposure to those concentrations, according to plastic density data adjusted to a log-normal distribution. Levels of MP from 100 to 5000 µm span from < 0.0001 to 1.89 mg/L, whereas the most conservative safe concentration is 13.8 mg/L, and probability of exposure is p = 0.00004. Therefore large MP pose negligible global risk. However, MP bioavailability, translocation and toxicity increase as size decreases, and particles < 10 µm are not identified by current monitoring methods. Future research should target the lowest size fractions of MP and nanoplastics, and use in toxicity testing environmental plastic particles rather than engineered materials.
format	article
author	Ricardo Beiras Alexandre M. Schönemann
author_facet	Ricardo Beiras Alexandre M. Schönemann
author_sort	Ricardo Beiras
title	Currently monitored microplastics pose negligible ecological risk to the global ocean
title_short	Currently monitored microplastics pose negligible ecological risk to the global ocean
title_full	Currently monitored microplastics pose negligible ecological risk to the global ocean
title_fullStr	Currently monitored microplastics pose negligible ecological risk to the global ocean
title_full_unstemmed	Currently monitored microplastics pose negligible ecological risk to the global ocean
title_sort	currently monitored microplastics pose negligible ecological risk to the global ocean
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2020
url	https://doaj.org/article/c1762981403844db9e27432c6f26464f
work_keys_str_mv	AT ricardobeiras currentlymonitoredmicroplasticsposenegligibleecologicalrisktotheglobalocean AT alexandremschonemann currentlymonitoredmicroplasticsposenegligibleecologicalrisktotheglobalocean
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Currently monitored microplastics pose negligible ecological risk to the global ocean

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