School of Biology & Environmental Sciences, University College Dublin, Science Centre West, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
Environ Sci Technol. 2011 Nov 1;45(21):9175-9. doi: 10.1021/es201811s. Epub 2011 Oct 4.
Plastic debris <1 mm (defined here as microplastic) is accumulating in marine habitats. Ingestion of microplastic provides a potential pathway for the transfer of pollutants, monomers, and plastic-additives to organisms with uncertain consequences for their health. Here, we show that microplastic contaminates the shorelines at 18 sites worldwide representing six continents from the poles to the equator, with more material in densely populated areas, but no clear relationship between the abundance of miocroplastics and the mean size-distribution of natural particulates. An important source of microplastic appears to be through sewage contaminated by fibers from washing clothes. Forensic evaluation of microplastic from sediments showed that the proportions of polyester and acrylic fibers used in clothing resembled those found in habitats that receive sewage-discharges and sewage-effluent itself. Experiments sampling wastewater from domestic washing machines demonstrated that a single garment can produce >1900 fibers per wash. This suggests that a large proportion of microplastic fibers found in the marine environment may be derived from sewage as a consequence of washing of clothes. As the human population grows and people use more synthetic textiles, contamination of habitats and animals by microplastic is likely to increase.
小于 1 毫米的塑料碎片（本文定义为微塑料）正在海洋栖息地中积累。微塑料的摄入为污染物、单体和塑料添加剂向生物体转移提供了一个潜在途径，而这对它们的健康可能产生不确定的后果。在这里，我们表明，微塑料污染了全球 18 个地点的海岸线，这些地点代表了从极地到赤道的六个大陆，人口密集地区的材料更多，但微塑料的丰度与天然颗粒的平均大小分布之间没有明显的关系。微塑料的一个重要来源似乎是通过被洗衣服纤维污染的污水。对沉积物中微塑料的法医评估表明，衣服中使用的聚酯和丙烯酸纤维的比例与那些接受污水排放和污水流出物的栖息地相似。从家用洗衣机中抽取废水的实验表明，一件衣服每次洗涤可产生>1900 根纤维。这表明，海洋环境中发现的大量微塑料纤维可能是由于洗衣服而从污水中产生的。随着人口的增长和人们使用更多的合成纺织品，微塑料对栖息地和动物的污染可能会增加。
