Abstract

The behaviors of microplastics can be classified as physical behaviors (i.e. migration,

sedimentation and accumulation), chemical behaviors (i.e. degradation and adsorption) and biobehaviors
(i.e. ingestion, translocation and biodegradation).

1. Introduction

Plastics, despite of their extensive applications, contaminate the environment due to their low
recovery and difficulty to degrade. Environmental contaminants such as polychlorinated biphenyls,
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), petroleum hydrocarbons, organochlorine pesticides,
polybrominated diphenylethers, alkylphenols, bisphenol A, and metals combine with microplastics.
Microplastics pollution, widespread in the ocean, can be ingested by marine organisms and can harm
human through bioaccumulation and biomagnification.

2. Physical behaviors

2.1 Migration

Plastic debris can be transported by ocean current, wind, tide and tsunami in the oceans. Most synthetic
polymers, such as polyethylene and polypropylene, are buoyant and can be transported in seawater.
PVC and other polymers that are denser than seawater can still be transported by underlying currents.

2.2 Sedimentation

The density of floating plastic debris may gradually increase in the marine environment. Biofouling,
indicated by the presence of nitrogen in the plastic samples, can cause sedimentation. Microbial biofilms
and plastics sink because they become less hydrophobic and more neutrally buoyant. Because the
density of seawater increases with depth, neutrally drifting or slowly sinking plastic debris would remain
suspended at a certain depth in which density is equal to that of plastic debris surface. Biofouled plastic
debris; however, may drift because it they undergo a rapid defouling when submerged.

2. 3. Accumulation

Plastic wastes, despite of being consigned to landfills, end up as marine debris as a result of insufficient
treatment capacity, accidental inputs, littering, illegal dumping and coastal human activities.

2.3.2. Spatial accumulation

Plastic debris is almost ubiquitous in the global marine environment. Vast quantities of microplastic fiber
are present in the deep-sea sediments and about four orders of magnitude greater abundance compared
with heavily contaminated surface water gyres, indicating that seabed is a likely sink for microplastics. .
Submarine topographic features and some oceanographic processes, including dense shelf water, severe
coastal storms, offshore convection and saline subduction could help to settle microplastics to depth.
Combined with physical abrasion and/or microbial populations, exposure of plastic to solar UV radiation
would result in photodegradation, embrittlement and fragmentation.
2.4 The impacts of physical behaviors

Sufficient amount of microplastics would change the physical properties of beach sediment, which may
affect a variety of biotas, and various interstitial meiofauna.Accumulated plastic debris would alter
preexisting environmental characteristics, like the habitat quality, that are critical factors of species
occurrence.

3. Chemical behaviors

3.1 Degradation

Polymer degradation is a change in the properties of polymer or polymer-based products under the
influence of environmental factors such as heat, light, and chemicals, and is usually classified as photo-
oxidative degradation, thermal degradation, ozone-induced degradation, mechanochemical degradation,
catalytic degradation and biodegradation. With physical abrasion such as wave action and sand grinding,
exposure of plastic to solar UV radiation would result in photodegradation, embrittlement and
fragmentation.

3.2 Adsorption

3.2.1 Adsorption of organic pollutants

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated
biphenyls (PCBs) and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDTs), would be absorbed onto microplastic.
While the physical adsorption primarily depends on the great specific surface area and Van der Waals'
force, the chemical adsorption is mainly due to greater affinity of organic pollutants for the hydrophobic
surface of plastic compared to seawater. Difference in weathering and residence time in the marine
environment and the foulants attached to the plastic debris, are significantly associated with the
adsorption.

3.2.2

Mechanisms of metal uptake relate to direct adsorption of cations or complexes onto charged sites or
neutral regions of the surface of the plastic, and co-precipitation with or adsorption onto hydrous oxides.
Adsorption of metals probably proceeds through interactions between bivalent cations and oxyanions with
charged or polar regions of the plastic surface, and through non-specific interactions between neutral
metalorganic complexes and the hydrophobic surface.

4. Biobehaviors

4.1. Ingestion

Due to small size, microplastics are known to be ingested by a wide range of organisms, including
amphipods, lugworms, barnacles, mussels, sea cucumbers, and Nephrops norvegicus.

4.2 Translocation

Once ingested by marine organisms, microplastic may be retained in their digestive tract, egested in the
form of feces, absorbed into the epithelial lining of the gut by phagocytosis, or translocated to other
tissues.
4.3 Biodegradation

Biodegradation may be characterized by formation of biofilm, weight loss of polymers and visual pits.
Formation of biofilm on the plastic surface seems to be the favorite mode of growth of plastic degrading
bacteria.

4.4 The impacts of biobehaviors

4.4.1 Mechanical effects

An early study investigating the colour and size distribution of microplastics also suggested that
planktonic organisms will most commonly mistake white and lightly-coloured plastic fragments for prey.
Ingestion of microplastics would cause mechanical effects like larger plastics. Microplastics might block
the feeding appendages or hinder the passage of food through the intestinal tract or cause pseudo-
satiation resulting in decreasing food intake.

4.4.2 Leaching of chemical ingredients

Polymerization reactions during production are commonly uncompleted, leaving unreacted residual
monomers and other hazardous ingredients are also present in plastic product. Research shows that
additives could leach from plastics ingested by marine organisms, providing a negligible exposure
pathway. Additives in polyvinylchloride could transfer from medical supplies to humans, indicating that
additives could accumulate in the blood.

4.4.3. Release of sorbed pollutants

Risks associated with plastics not only come from the material itself but also from sorbed pollutants. No
doubt, plastic debris readily accumulates harmful pollutants from the surrounding environment, increasing
their concentration by orders of magnitude.

Conclusion

Once entering the ocean, microplastics could be migrated by currents, wind, tides and tsunamis. Due to
colonization by microbial communities, adherence to phytoplankton and aggregation with organic debris
and metals, floating plastic debris would eventually sink to the seabed. Plastic debris is almost ubiquitous
in the global marine environment, extending from Polar Regions to the equator, from remote shorelines to
highly populated coastlines, from the coast far out to sea, and down onto the deep-sea. Coupled with
physical abrasion (e.g. wave action and sand grinding) and/or microbial populations, exposure of plastic
to solar UV radiation would result in photodegradation, embrittlement and fragmentation. Due to durable
properties and poor rate of removing, it seems to be certain that microplastics would inevitably increase in
the marine environment with time. Studies of temporal accumulation of floating plastic debris have shown
conflicting trends. Though limited data exist to describe the temporal variability, possible mechanisms of
removing plastic debris from the ocean surface, including sedimentation, shore deposition,
nanofragmentation and ingestion, are at play. Because of the small size, microplastics can be ingested by
a wide range of marine organisms. For organisms, risks associated with ingested plastics not only come
from the material itself but also from sorbed pollutants. What's worse, the ingested plastics would
translocate to other tissues of organisms and transfer to higher-trophic-level organisms through the food
chains. With increasing production, poor policy enforcement and infeasible removal of substantial plastic
debris, the plastic pollution in the marine environment would deteriorate.
Reference:

Wang, J., Tan, Z., Peng, J., Qiu, Q., & Li, M. (2016). The behaviors of microplastics in the marine
environment. Marine Environmental Research,113, 7-17. doi:10.1016/j.marenvres.2015.10.014