Ocean plastics chemicals flow opposite ways in coastal versus open seas
Shi J, Liu M, Wang Y, Ye J, Feng M
Ocean Chemistry
The flame retardants used to treat furniture and electronics in daily life eventually wash into oceans and get moved around by marine life in ways that could affect the seafood on dinner plates far from any coastline.
Chemicals used to make plastics bendy and furniture fire-resistant end up in the ocean, and scientists wanted to know where they go once they're there. It turns out coastal seas near land act like sponges soaking up these chemicals from the air, while the open ocean farther out actually releases them back into the atmosphere. Tiny ocean organisms and microbes help break down or trap these chemicals as they sink, acting almost like a filtration system for the sea.
Key Findings
The South China Sea showed net absorption of organophosphate esters from the atmosphere at 1.66 ± 1.36 μg per square meter per day, while the Western Pacific released them at 0.41 ± 1.15 μg per square meter per day.
In the South China Sea, microbial biodegradation was the main driver removing these chemicals from surface water.
In the Western Pacific, the 'biological pump' (organisms and sinking particles) was the primary mechanism removing the chemicals from the upper water column.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists tracked flame-retardant and plasticizer chemicals in seawater across the Western Pacific and South China Sea, finding that coastal seas absorb these pollutants from the atmosphere while the open ocean releases them back out, with ocean life playing a big role in pulling them out of surface water.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Distinct Source-Sink Patterns and Vertical Consumption of Alkyl and Aryl Organophosphate Esters in the Remote Ocean and Its Marginal Sea.
Organophosphorus esters (OPEs) have been widely used as flame retardants and plasticizers and are globally ubiquitous. In the marine environment, OPEs primarily originate from continental sources a...
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