Ecotoxicological risk assessment of microplastics in marine Arctic environment ...
The last few decades have witnessed an exponential increase in plastic production and consumption. The inexorable increase in microplastic accumulation, particularly in the Arctic waters, has become a major environmental concern. Discarded plastics degrade in the environment due to natural forces li...
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| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
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Memorial University of Newfoundland
2024
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| Online Access: | https://dx.doi.org/10.48336/91n8-5365 https://research.library.mun.ca/15995/ |
| Summary: | The last few decades have witnessed an exponential increase in plastic production and consumption. The inexorable increase in microplastic accumulation, particularly in the Arctic waters, has become a major environmental concern. Discarded plastics degrade in the environment due to natural forces like wind, waves, and heat into smaller pieces. Plastic fragments produced or decomposed into a size range of 1 μm to 5 mm diameter are termed microplastics. Plastic debris travels through various environmental media before eventually reaching the oceans. In the various oceans, they travel along oceanic currents reaching the Arctic, where they get trapped in the Arctic ice. Moreover, local maritime operations like fishing, tourism, shipping, hydrocarbon exploration, and aquaculture also contribute to the microplastic accumulation in the Arctic waters. Microplastics are a complex group of pollutants containing plastic polymer, various stabilizing chemicals intentionally added during their production process and ... |
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