AsianScientist (Oct. 19, 2017) – A study published in Environmental Science & Technology reports that plastic from ten rivers in the world—eight of which are in Asia—are contaminating the world’s oceans.
Millions of tons of plastic waste enter the world’s oceans every year. This pollution, when broken down into tiny bits called microplastics, can damage the health of marine life. Cleaning it all up would be impossible, but stemming the tide could help reduce the potential harm.
To do this, however, researchers need a better understanding of how plastic makes its way into the oceans in the first place. Rivers, which flow from inland areas to the seas, are major transporters of plastic debris. But the concentration patterns are not well known.
In this study, researchers from Germany analyzed dozens of research articles on plastic pollution in waterways. The studies involved 79 sampling sites along 57 rivers around the world. Their calculations indicated that the amount of plastic in rivers was related to the mismanagement of plastic waste in their watersheds.
Additionally, the top ten rivers carrying the highest amounts accounted for 88 to 95 percent of the total global load of plastics in the oceans, according to the researchers’ calculations. Their findings suggest that halving plastic pollution in these ten waterways—eight of which are in Asia—could potentially reduce the total contribution by all rivers by 45 percent.
The article can be found at: Schmidt et al. (2017) Export of Plastic Debris by Rivers into the Sea.
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Source: American Chemical Society; Photo: Shutterstock.
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