Overview of the biological effects of lost and discarded plastic debris in the marine environment

• Published in: Marine pollution bulletin 1987-06, Vol.18 (6), p.319-326
• Main Author: Laist, David W.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Marine
• ISSN: 0025-326X; 1879-3363
• DOI: 10.1016/S0025-326X(87)80019-X

In the past thirty years, the use of plastics and other synthetic materials has expanded at a rapid pace. As new uses for these materials have been developed, applied, and made available to more people, the quantity of plastic debris entering the marine environment has undergone a corresponding increase. Many of these products degrade very slowly. Those that are buoyant remain suspended at the sea surface for a long time, and those that are not, sink and remain on the bottom for years or even decades. The accumulating debris poses increasingly significant threats to marine mammals, seabirds, turtles, fish, and crustaceans. The threats are straightforward and primarily mechanical. Individual animals may become entangled in loops or openings of floating or submerged debrijs or they may ingest plastic materials. Animals that become entangled may drown, have their ability to catch food or avoid predators impaired, or incur wounds from abrasive or cutting action of attached debris. Ingested plastics may block digestive tracts, damage stomach linings, or lessen feeding drives. The deceptively simple nature of the threat, the perceived abundance of marine life, and the size of the oceans have, until recently, caused resource managers to overlook or dismiss the proliferation of potentially harmful plastic debris as being insignificant. However, developing information suggests that the mechanical effects of these materials affect many marine species in many ocean areas, and that these effects justify recognition of persistent plastic debris as a major form of ocean pollution.