Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
of the oceans to fix carbon. If such trophic level transfer does occur at all is
not known and the magnitude of the adverse impacts have not been reliably
estimated. There is not enough information to assess the likelihood or the
magnitude of potential adverse impacts on the oceans.
Sustainable use of plastics requires that oceans are not polluted by litter
of any size range, but especially by microoplastics (and those of a smaller
dimension) that can interact with the organisms at lower levels of the food
web.Italsodemandsresearcheffortsintounderstandtheextentofpollution
in different ocean regions at the present time, potential impacts of plastics
already in the oceans, and developing viable mitigating strategies to manage
this environmental problem. Provided the functionality of the gear is not
compromised by their use, this might be a niche application to use
biodegradable plastics in synthetic fiber fishing gear and other plastics used
on beaches. The value of enhanced photodegradation of plastics on beaches,
however, is not entirely clear; while it avoids entanglement of animals, the
material also fragments at an accelerated rate yielding microplastics.
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