Pollution Carried by Synthetic Polymers in the Ocean
Poster Number
15
Format
Poster Presentation
Abstract/Artist Statement
Synthetic polymers are extremely useful for a wide variety of applications. Although there are many types and combinations of polymers, they typically share the property of being relatively resistant to biodegradation and they are cheap. This means they are widely used and discarded. An amazing amount finds its way into the oceans. Charles Moore (2001) found, far at sea in the Pacific, some six times by mass more plastic material in the ocean than zooplankton. These plastic materials are ingested by marine life. Moore has also collected samples of plastic parts from the bodies of sea birds that died with large amounts of plastic materials in them. Another research group, Mato (2001) has reported that the starting materials, polypropylene plastic pellets, used for fabrication by injection molding can be shown to concentrate polychlorinated biphenyls, PCBs, dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene, DDE, and nonylphenol, NP. We are developing the analytical methods to extract, concentrate and identify persistent organic pollutants (POPs) that may have accumulated in plastic particles in the ocean. Cap.Charles Moore (AMRF) has provided samples collected in the North Pacific for our analysis.
Location
Pacific Geosciences Center
Start Date
30-4-2005 1:00 PM
End Date
30-4-2005 3:00 PM
Pollution Carried by Synthetic Polymers in the Ocean
Pacific Geosciences Center
Synthetic polymers are extremely useful for a wide variety of applications. Although there are many types and combinations of polymers, they typically share the property of being relatively resistant to biodegradation and they are cheap. This means they are widely used and discarded. An amazing amount finds its way into the oceans. Charles Moore (2001) found, far at sea in the Pacific, some six times by mass more plastic material in the ocean than zooplankton. These plastic materials are ingested by marine life. Moore has also collected samples of plastic parts from the bodies of sea birds that died with large amounts of plastic materials in them. Another research group, Mato (2001) has reported that the starting materials, polypropylene plastic pellets, used for fabrication by injection molding can be shown to concentrate polychlorinated biphenyls, PCBs, dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene, DDE, and nonylphenol, NP. We are developing the analytical methods to extract, concentrate and identify persistent organic pollutants (POPs) that may have accumulated in plastic particles in the ocean. Cap.Charles Moore (AMRF) has provided samples collected in the North Pacific for our analysis.