Garrard Samantha L, Clark James R, Martin Nicola, Nelms Sarah E, Botterell Zara L R, Cole Matthew, Coppock Rachel L, Galloway Tamara S, Green Dannielle S, Jones Megan, Lindeque Pennie K, Tillin Heidi M, Beaumont Nicola J
Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, The Hoe, Plymouth PL1 3DH, United Kingdom.
Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, The Hoe, Plymouth PL1 3DH, United Kingdom.
Sci Total Environ. 2024 Apr 20;922:171282. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171282. Epub 2024 Feb 25.
The pervasive use of plastic in modern society has led to plastic litter becoming ubiquitous within the ocean. Land-based sources of plastic litter are thought to account for the majority of plastic pollution in the marine environment, with plastic bags, bottles, wrappers, food containers and cutlery among the most common items found. In the marine environment, plastic is a transboundary pollutant, with the potential to cause damage far beyond the political borders from where it originated, making the management of this global pollutant particularly complex. In this study, the risks of land-derived plastic litter (LDPL) to major groups of marine megafauna - seabirds, cetaceans, pinnipeds, elasmobranchs, turtles, sirenians, tuna and billfish - and a selection of productive and biodiverse biogenic habitats - coral reefs, mangroves, seagrass, saltmarsh and kelp beds - were analysed using a Spatial Risk Assessment approach. The approach combines metrics for vulnerability (mechanism of harm for megafauna group or habitat), hazard (plastic abundance) and exposure (distribution of group or habitat). Several potential high-risk zones (HRZs) across the North Atlantic were highlighted, including the Azores, the UK, the French and US Atlantic coasts, and the US Gulf of Mexico. Whilst much of the modelled LDPL driving risk in the UK originated from domestic sources, in other HRZs, such as the Azores archipelago and the US Gulf of Mexico, plastic originated almost exclusively from external (non-domestic) sources. LDPL from Caribbean islands - some of the largest generators of marine plastic pollution in the dataset of river plastic emissions used in the study - was noted as a significant input to HRZs across both sides of the Atlantic. These findings highlight the potential of Spatial Risk Assessment analyses to determine the location of HRZs and understand where plastic debris monitoring and management should be prioritised, enabling more efficient deployment of interventions and mitigation measures.
现代社会中塑料的广泛使用导致海洋中塑料垃圾无处不在。陆源塑料垃圾被认为是海洋环境中塑料污染的主要来源，其中塑料袋、瓶子、包装纸、食品容器和餐具是最常见的物品。在海洋环境中，塑料是一种跨界污染物，其造成的损害可能远远超出其来源地的政治边界，这使得对这种全球污染物的管理格外复杂。在本研究中，采用空间风险评估方法分析了陆源塑料垃圾（LDPL）对主要海洋大型动物群体——海鸟、鲸类、鳍足类、软骨鱼类、海龟、海牛、金枪鱼和旗鱼——以及一些多产且生物多样的生物栖息地——珊瑚礁、红树林、海草、盐沼和海带床——的风险。该方法结合了脆弱性（大型动物群体或栖息地的危害机制）、危害（塑料丰度）和暴露（群体或栖息地的分布）等指标。北大西洋突出了几个潜在的高风险区（HRZ），包括亚速尔群岛、英国、法国和美国大西洋海岸以及美国墨西哥湾。虽然英国建模的LDPL驱动风险大多源于国内，但在其他高风险区，如亚速尔群岛和美国墨西哥湾，塑料几乎完全来自外部（非国内）来源。来自加勒比岛屿的LDPL——在该研究使用的河流塑料排放数据集中，是海洋塑料污染的一些最大产生源——被指出是大西洋两岸高风险区的重要输入源。这些发现凸显了空间风险评估分析在确定高风险区位置以及了解应优先进行塑料碎片监测和管理的地点方面的潜力，从而能够更有效地部署干预措施和缓解措施。
