Contamination and distribution of buried microplastics in Sarakkuwa beach ensuing the MV X-Press Pearl maritime disaster in Sri Lankan sea

Towards a 'theory of change' for ocean plastics: a socio-oceanography approach to the global challenge of plastic pollution

Socio-oceanography is an emerging field which mobilises insights from natural and social sciences to explore the inter-connectedness of societal relationships with the ocean and to adopt a holistic approach to solving key oceanographic and societal challenges. It is within this specific context that we explore and reflect upon diverse communities in relation to engaging with plastic pollution in the ocean, one of the foremost socio-environmental challenges of our time. We establish definitions of 'community', arguing that communities are not 'out there' waiting to be engaged with but are dynamic and (re)constituted in four key contexts - geographical, practical, virtual, and circumstantial. We outline some 'rules of engagement' and draw upon several international case studies in the context of plastic pollution to evidence and emphasise the value of working with members of diverse communities to better address socio-oceanographic challenges. In the context of plastic pollution, communities have a vital role to play in terms of co-creating knowledge, lived experience, diverse expertise, and agency to bring about social change. Given the ubiquity of plastics in our day-to-day lives, and subsequently as an environmental pollutant, no community is unaffected by this issue. Relating to socio-oceanography, we argue that structural power imbalances in terms of how diverse communities and natural scientists are traditionally positioned within academic research mean that 'formal' scientific knowledge is frequently privileged, and members of communities risk being positioned as 'empty vessels'. Moving away from this 'deficit' model where knowledge is simply transferred or alternatively extracted from communities allows us to progress towards an inclusive 'socio-oceanography in society' approach, where members of communities are valued as vital in prioritising and addressing socio-oceanography issues which affect everyday life. Accessibility, openness, ethics and fairness in data are also essential in ensuring that research outcomes can be applied widely outside the academic community.

Graphical Abstract

Microplastics in the surface waters of the northern South China Sea: Interannual variation and potential ecological risks

Microplastic pollution in marine environments has become a global concern due to its potential ecological risks. However, long-term data on microplastic distribution are scare, hindering the assessment of the ecological threats. This study monitored microplastics pollution in the surface water of the northern South China Sea from 2019 to 2023. The average abundance of microplastics exhibited an increasing trend from 2019 to 2021 and a subsequent decrease from 2021 to 2023 in both the Pearl River Estuary and Zhanjiang offshore waters. Conversely, a steady annual decrease was observed in the surface waters of Beibu Gulf from 2020 to 2023. The spatial variability of microplastic hotspot across different years and regions. Microplastics predominantly ranged from 1 to 2 mm in size, with fragments and fibers being the most common shapes and transparent and white colors being the most prevalent. The primary chemical components of microplastics were polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). No significant inter-annual differences were observed in the physicochemical characteristics of microplastics. The pollution load index (PLI) indicated medium to low levels of microplastic pollution, with the potential ecological risk index (PERI) suggesting a low level of ecological risk, implying a minimal threat to the marine ecosystem. This study first revealed the annual variations in microplastic pollution and their potential ecological risks in the northern South China Sea, providing crucial data support for the future management and control of marine microplastic pollution.

Burnt Plastic (Pyroplastic) from the M/V X-Press Pearl Ship Fire and Plastic Spill Contain Compounds That Activate Endocrine and Metabolism-Related Human and Fish Transcription Factors

In May 2021, the M/V X-Press Pearl ship fire disaster led to the largest maritime spill of resin pellets (nurdles) and burnt plastic (pyroplastic). Field samples collected from beaches in Sri Lanka nearest to the ship comprised nurdles and pieces of pyroplastic. Three years later, the toxicity of the spilled material remains unresolved. To begin understanding its potential toxicity, solvent extracts of the nurdles and pyroplastic were screened for their bioactivity by several Attagene FACTORIAL bioassays (TF, NR, and AquaTox), which measured the activity of a combined 70 human transcription factor response elements and nuclear receptors and 6 to 7 nuclear receptors for each of three phylogenetically distinct fish species. Extracts of the pyroplastics robustly activated end points for the human aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), estrogen receptor (ER), pregnane X receptor (PXR), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR), retinoid X receptor (RXR), and oxidative stress (NRF2) and had the potential for activation of several others. The bioactivity profile of the pyroplastics was most similar (similarity score = 0.96) to that of probable human carcinogens benzo[b]fluoranthene and benzo[k]fluoranthene despite the extracts being a complex mixture of thousands of compounds. The activity diminished only slightly for extracts of pyroplastic collected eight months after the spill. The AquaTox FACTORIAL bioassay measured the activation of ERα, ERβ, androgen receptor (AR), PPARα, PPARγ, and RXRβ for human, zebrafish (Danio rerio), Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes), and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), revealing species-specific sensitivities to the chemicals associated with the pyroplastics. These findings provide needed information to guide long-term monitoring efforts, make hazard assessments of the spilled material, and direct further research on pyroplastic, an emerging global contaminant.

Citizen science and community engagement for environmental monitoring and emergency response: Lessons from the MV X-Press Pearl ship disaster

The sinking and combustion of the MV X-Press Pearl in May 2021 caused severe marine pollution, releasing toxic materials and billions of plastic nurdles. Nurdle pollution threatens sensitive coastal habitats and negatively impacts social welfare. This study aimed to 1) conduct a citizen science program to quantify nurdle distribution during the disaster, and 2) evaluate the societal impact, attitudes, knowledge, and perceptions in the disaster's aftermath. Results derived via the citizen science study indicated that Colombo, Gampaha and Puttalam districts to be hotspot areas with the highest nurdle densities of 50,789 ± 1139 m-2, 48,107 ± 3408 m-2 and 33,231 ± 689 m-2, respectively. Results from the public perception survey showed that the majority (80 %) of the respondents were affected by the incident. Over 70 % of the survey participants were either not satisfied or neutral towards the compensation provided for livelihood loss. Nearly 60 % took a neutral stance when questioned about the country's readiness to respond to marine disasters.

Case report of plastic nurdles pollution in Galicia (NW Atlantic) following the Toconao's spill in December 2023: The VIEIRA Collaborative

Plastic nurdles pose a significant environmental threat due to recurrent accidental spills into marine ecosystems. This report examines the nurdle pollution over the 1498 km of the Galician coastline (Spain) following the spill of 25 t of nurdles into the Northwest Atlantic after the loss of six containers from the Toconao vessel in December 2023. This accident highlights the urgent need for proactive, effective measures in maritime transport to prevent and mitigate such environmental catastrophes. The complexity of nurdle dispersion challenges the evaluation of their fate at sea, and the potential long-term consequences on the marine ecosystem and food web remain uncertain and yet to be investigated. This report also presents the VIEIRA collaborative and underscores the critical role of citizen-led initiatives in responding to such environmental disasters, and advocates for efficient policy reforms, involving cross-border collaboration. Furthermore, we call for greater international cooperation to underpin effective regulatory frameworks to address the growing hazard of plastic nurdle pollution worldwide.

Microplastic and mesoplastic pollution in surface waters and beaches of the Canary Islands: A review

The Canary Archipelago is a group of volcanic islands located in the North Atlantic Ocean with high marine biodiversity. This archipelago intercepts the Canary Current, the easternmost branch of the Azores Current in the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre, which brings large amounts of litter from remote sources via oceanic transportation. It is, therefore, particularly vulnerable to marine plastic pollution. Here, we present a review of the available studies on mesoplastics and microplastics in the Canary Islands over the last decade to evaluate the level and distribution of plastic pollution in this archipelago. Specifically, we focused on data from beaches and surface waters to assess the pollution level among the different islands as well as between windward and leeward zones, and the main characteristics (size, type, colour, and polymer) of the plastics found in the Canary Islands. The concentrations of meso- and MPs on beaches ranged from 1.5 to 2972 items/m2 with a mean of 381 ± 721 items/m2. The concentration of MPs (>200 μm) in surface waters was highly variable with mean values of 998 × 103 ± 3364 × 103 items/km2 and 10 ± 31 items/m3. Plastic pollution in windward beaches was one order of magnitude significantly higher than in leeward beaches. The accumulation of MPs in surface waters was higher in the leeward zones of the high-elevation islands, corresponding to the Special Areas of Conservation (ZECs) and where the presence of marine litter windrows (MLW) has been reported. Microplastic fragments of polyethylene of the colour category "white/clear/uncoloured" were the most common type of plastic reported in both beaches and surface waters. More studies on the occurrence of MLW in ZECS and plastic pollution in the water column and sediments, including small-size fractions (<200 μm), are needed to better assess the level of plastic pollution and its fate in the Canary Islands. Overall, this review confirms that the Canary Archipelago is a hotspot of oceanic plastic pollution, with concentrations of MPs in surface waters in the highest range reported for oceanic islands and one of the highest recorded mean concentrations of beached meso- and microplastics in the world.

Polyethylene microplastic-induced microbial shifts affected greenhouse gas emissions during litter decomposition in coastal wetland sediments

Microplastic contamination has become increasingly aggravated in coastal environments, further affecting biogeochemical processes involved with microbial community shifts. As a key biogeochemical process mainly driven by microbiota in coastal wetland sediments, litter decomposition contributes greatly to the global greenhouse gas (GHG) budget. However, under microplastic pollution, the relationship between microbial alterations and GHG emissions during litter decomposition in coastal wetlands remains largely unknown. Here, we explored the microbial mechanism by which polyethylene microplastic (PE-MP) influenced greenhouse gas (i.e., CH4, CO2 and N2O) emissions during litter decomposition in coastal sediments through a 75-day microcosm experiment. During litter decomposition, PE-MP exposure significantly decreased cumulative CH4 and CO2 emissions by 41.07% and 25.79%, respectively. However, there was no significant change in cumulative N2O emissions under PE-MP exposure. The bacterial, archaeal, and fungal communities in sediments exhibited varied responses to PE-MP exposure over time, as reflected by the altered structure and changed functional groups of the microbiota. The altered microbial functional groups ascribed to PE-MP exposure and sediment property changes might contribute to suppressing CH4 and CO2 emissions during litter decomposition. This study yielded valuable information regarding the effects of PE-MP on GHG emissions during litter decomposition in coastal wetland sediments.

Distribution and Fate of Polyethylene Microplastics Released by a Portable Toilet Manufacturer into a Freshwater Wetland and Lake

A portable toilet manufacturer in northwest Indiana (USA) released polyethylene microplastic (MP) pollution into a protected wetland for at least three years. To assess the loads, movement, and fate of the MPs in the wetland from this point source, water and sediment samples were collected in the fall and spring of 2021-2023. Additional samples, including sediment cores and atmospheric particulates, were collected during the summer of 2023 from select areas of the wetland. The MPs were isolated from the field samples using density separation, filtration, and chemical oxidation. Infrared and Raman spectroscopy analyses identified the MPs as polyethylene, which were quantified visually using a stereomicroscope. The numbers of MPs in 100 mL of the marsh water closest to the source ranged from several hundred to over 400,000, while the open water samples contained few microplastics. Marsh surface sediments were highly contaminated with MPs, up to 18,800 per 30.0 g dry mass (dm), compared to core samples in the lower depths (>15 cm) that contained only smaller MPs (<200 µm), numbering 0-480 per 30.0 g (dm). The wide variations in loads of MP contaminants indicate the influence of numerous factors, such as proximity to the point source pollution, weather conditions, natural matter, and pollution sinks, namely sediment deposition. As proof of concept, we demonstrated a novel remediation method using these real-world samples to effectively agglomerate and remove MPs from contaminated waters.

Maritime disasters and pollution: X-Press Pearl maritime debacle

Ocean ecosystems and global well-being are connected and significant. Over the past few decades, shipping accidents have caused severe marine pollution all over the world, and after a lull during the hike of COVID pandemic, polluting events are again on the rise. Marine pollution caused by maritime accidents requires a clear understanding of the fate of spilled pollutants, post-disaster challenges, pollutant removal strategies, and mitigation strategies against environmental damage. Considering proactive prevention is always better than reactive response, while understanding accidents and ensuring corrective action is even more important. This Special Issue provides a broad overview of the marine and coastal pollution, not limited to, but focused on the 2021 X-Press Pearl containership disaster off the coast of Sri Lanka, and the impact on the marine environment. Topics address the most unprecedented nurdle and pyroplastic spill and subsequent oil spillage of the X-Press Pearl, causes and consequences of polluting ship disasters, novel oil pollution mitigation approaches, needfulness of post-disaster environmental assessment plans, future requirements for ecosystem restoration and environmental management of shipping, and other aspects of coastal pollution that are timely to consider unprecedented pressures, which marine environments are now subjected to.

Characterization of three plastic forms: Plasticoncrete, plastimetal and plastisessiles

Plastic forms, including plastiglomerate, pyroplastic, plasticrusts, anthropoquinas, plastistone and plastitar, were recorded worldwide. These plastic forms derive from geochemical or geophysical interactions such as heat-induced plastic fusion with rock in campfires, incomplete plastic combustion, water motion-driven plastic abrasion in the rocky intertidal zone, plastic deposition in hardened sediments and plastic bonding with tar. Thereby, these interactions can profoundly influence the fate of plastics in the environment. This study characterized three novel plastic forms (plasticoncrete, plastimetal and plastisessiles) discovered on Helgoland island (North Sea). Plasticoncrete consisted of common polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) fibers hardened in concrete. Plastimetal included PE fibers rusted with metal. Plastisessiles consisted of PE fibers attached to benthic substrates by sessile invertebrates (oysters and polychaetes). Plasticoncrete and plastimetal are the first plastic forms composed of two man-made materials. Plastisessiles show that plastic forms not only result from human- or environment-mediated interactions but also from biological interactions between invertebrates and plastic. All plastic forms (bulk density ≥ 1.4 g/cm3) sunk during floating tests and hardly changed their positions during a 13-day field experiment and 153- to 306-day field monitorings, indicating their local formation, limited mobility and longevity. Still, experimentally detached plastic fibers floated, confirming that the formation of these plastic forms influences the fate of plastic fibers in the environment. Furthermore, the experiment showed that plasticoncrete got deposited in beach sand under wavy and windy conditions, indicating that coastal waves and onshore winds drive plasticoncrete deposition in coastal sediments. We also provide first records of plasticoncrete on Mallorca island (Mediterranean Sea) and plastimetal on Hikoshima island (Sea of Japan), respectively, which show that these plastic forms are no local phenomena. Thereby, our study contributes to the growing fundamental knowledge of plastic forms that is essential to understand the role and fate of these pollutants in coastal habitats worldwide.

Fire and Oil Led to Complex Mixtures of PAHs on Burnt and Unburnt Plastic during the M/V X-Press Pearl Disaster

In May 2021, the M/V X-Press Pearl container ship burned for 2 weeks, leading to the largest maritime spill of resin pellets (nurdles). The disaster was exacerbated by the leakage of other cargo and the ship's underway fuel. This disaster affords the unique opportunity to study a time-stamped, geolocated release of plastic under real-world conditions. Field samples collected from beaches in Sri Lanka nearest to the ship comprised nurdles exposed to heat and combustion, burnt plastic pieces (pyroplastic), and oil-plastic agglomerates (petroplastic). An unresolved question is whether the 1600+ tons of spilled and recovered plastic should be considered hazardous waste. Due to the known formation and toxicity of combustion-derived polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), we measured 20 parent and 21 alkylated PAHs associated with several types of spilled plastic. The maximum PAH content of the sampled pyroplastic had the greatest amount of PAHs recorded for marine plastic debris (199,000 ng/g). In contrast, the sampled unburnt white nurdles had two orders of magnitude less PAH content. The PAH composition varied between the types of spilled plastic and presented features typical of and conflicting with petrogenic and pyrogenic sources. Nevertheless, specific markers and compositional changes for burning plastics were identified, revealing that the fire was the main source of PAHs. Eight months after the spill, the PAH contents of sampled stray nurdles and pyroplastic were reduced by more than 50%. Due to their PAH content exceeding levels allowable for plastic consumer goods, classifying burnt plastic as hazardous waste may be warranted. Following a largely successful cleanup, we recommend that the Sri Lankans re-evaluate the identification, handling, and disposal of the plastic debris collected from beaches and the potential exposure of responders and the public to PAHs from handling it. The maritime disaster underscores pyroplastic as a type of plastic pollution that has yet to be fully explored, despite the pervasiveness of intentional and unintentional burning of plastic globally.

Oil spill remediation by biochar derived from bio-energy industries with a pilot-scale approach during the X-Press Pearl maritime disaster

Most traditional oil spill clean-up techniques are still laboratory based and are expensive and fairly ineffective. This study investigated the capacity of biochars derived from bio-energy industries in oil spill remediation with a pilot-testing. Three different biochars from bio-energy industries, Embilipitya (EBC), Mahiyanganaya (MBC), and Cinnamon Wood Biochar (CWBC) were assessed for the removal of Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) at three dosages (10, 25, and 50 g L^-1). Pilot-scale experiment was conducted with 100 g of biochars separately in the oil slick of X-Press Pearl shipwreck. All adsorbents exhibited rapid oil removal (within 30 min). Isotherm data were well explained by Sips isotherm model (R² > 0.98). The pilot-scale experiment resulted oil removal for CWBC, EBC and MBC as 0.62, 1.12, and 0.67 g kg^-1 respectively, even in rough sea conditions with a limited contact time (>5 min) indicates biochar's capacity in oil spill remediation as a cost-effective material.

The Minderoo-Monaco Commission on Plastics and Human Health

Background

Plastics have conveyed great benefits to humanity and made possible some of the most significant advances of modern civilization in fields as diverse as medicine, electronics, aerospace, construction, food packaging, and sports. It is now clear, however, that plastics are also responsible for significant harms to human health, the economy, and the earth's environment. These harms occur at every stage of the plastic life cycle, from extraction of the coal, oil, and gas that are its main feedstocks through to ultimate disposal into the environment. The extent of these harms not been systematically assessed, their magnitude not fully quantified, and their economic costs not comprehensively counted.

Goals

The goals of this Minderoo-Monaco Commission on Plastics and Human Health are to comprehensively examine plastics' impacts across their life cycle on: (1) human health and well-being; (2) the global environment, especially the ocean; (3) the economy; and (4) vulnerable populations-the poor, minorities, and the world's children. On the basis of this examination, the Commission offers science-based recommendations designed to support development of a Global Plastics Treaty, protect human health, and save lives.

Report Structure

This Commission report contains seven Sections. Following an Introduction, Section 2 presents a narrative review of the processes involved in plastic production, use, and disposal and notes the hazards to human health and the environment associated with each of these stages. Section 3 describes plastics' impacts on the ocean and notes the potential for plastic in the ocean to enter the marine food web and result in human exposure. Section 4 details plastics' impacts on human health. Section 5 presents a first-order estimate of plastics' health-related economic costs. Section 6 examines the intersection between plastic, social inequity, and environmental injustice. Section 7 presents the Commission's findings and recommendations.

Plastics

Plastics are complex, highly heterogeneous, synthetic chemical materials. Over 98% of plastics are produced from fossil carbon- coal, oil and gas. Plastics are comprised of a carbon-based polymer backbone and thousands of additional chemicals that are incorporated into polymers to convey specific properties such as color, flexibility, stability, water repellence, flame retardation, and ultraviolet resistance. Many of these added chemicals are highly toxic. They include carcinogens, neurotoxicants and endocrine disruptors such as phthalates, bisphenols, per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), brominated flame retardants, and organophosphate flame retardants. They are integral components of plastic and are responsible for many of plastics' harms to human health and the environment.Global plastic production has increased almost exponentially since World War II, and in this time more than 8,300 megatons (Mt) of plastic have been manufactured. Annual production volume has grown from under 2 Mt in 1950 to 460 Mt in 2019, a 230-fold increase, and is on track to triple by 2060. More than half of all plastic ever made has been produced since 2002. Single-use plastics account for 35-40% of current plastic production and represent the most rapidly growing segment of plastic manufacture.Explosive recent growth in plastics production reflects a deliberate pivot by the integrated multinational fossil-carbon corporations that produce coal, oil and gas and that also manufacture plastics. These corporations are reducing their production of fossil fuels and increasing plastics manufacture. The two principal factors responsible for this pivot are decreasing global demand for carbon-based fuels due to increases in 'green' energy, and massive expansion of oil and gas production due to fracking.Plastic manufacture is energy-intensive and contributes significantly to climate change. At present, plastic production is responsible for an estimated 3.7% of global greenhouse gas emissions, more than the contribution of Brazil. This fraction is projected to increase to 4.5% by 2060 if current trends continue unchecked.

Plastic Life Cycle

The plastic life cycle has three phases: production, use, and disposal. In production, carbon feedstocks-coal, gas, and oil-are transformed through energy-intensive, catalytic processes into a vast array of products. Plastic use occurs in every aspect of modern life and results in widespread human exposure to the chemicals contained in plastic. Single-use plastics constitute the largest portion of current use, followed by synthetic fibers and construction.Plastic disposal is highly inefficient, with recovery and recycling rates below 10% globally. The result is that an estimated 22 Mt of plastic waste enters the environment each year, much of it single-use plastic and are added to the more than 6 gigatons of plastic waste that have accumulated since 1950. Strategies for disposal of plastic waste include controlled and uncontrolled landfilling, open burning, thermal conversion, and export. Vast quantities of plastic waste are exported each year from high-income to low-income countries, where it accumulates in landfills, pollutes air and water, degrades vital ecosystems, befouls beaches and estuaries, and harms human health-environmental injustice on a global scale. Plastic-laden e-waste is particularly problematic.

Environmental Findings

Plastics and plastic-associated chemicals are responsible for widespread pollution. They contaminate aquatic (marine and freshwater), terrestrial, and atmospheric environments globally. The ocean is the ultimate destination for much plastic, and plastics are found throughout the ocean, including coastal regions, the sea surface, the deep sea, and polar sea ice. Many plastics appear to resist breakdown in the ocean and could persist in the global environment for decades. Macro- and micro-plastic particles have been identified in hundreds of marine species in all major taxa, including species consumed by humans. Trophic transfer of microplastic particles and the chemicals within them has been demonstrated. Although microplastic particles themselves (>10 µm) appear not to undergo biomagnification, hydrophobic plastic-associated chemicals bioaccumulate in marine animals and biomagnify in marine food webs. The amounts and fates of smaller microplastic and nanoplastic particles (MNPs <10 µm) in aquatic environments are poorly understood, but the potential for harm is worrying given their mobility in biological systems. Adverse environmental impacts of plastic pollution occur at multiple levels from molecular and biochemical to population and ecosystem. MNP contamination of seafood results in direct, though not well quantified, human exposure to plastics and plastic-associated chemicals. Marine plastic pollution endangers the ocean ecosystems upon which all humanity depends for food, oxygen, livelihood, and well-being.

Human Health Findings

Coal miners, oil workers and gas field workers who extract fossil carbon feedstocks for plastic production suffer increased mortality from traumatic injury, coal workers' pneumoconiosis, silicosis, cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lung cancer. Plastic production workers are at increased risk of leukemia, lymphoma, hepatic angiosarcoma, brain cancer, breast cancer, mesothelioma, neurotoxic injury, and decreased fertility. Workers producing plastic textiles die of bladder cancer, lung cancer, mesothelioma, and interstitial lung disease at increased rates. Plastic recycling workers have increased rates of cardiovascular disease, toxic metal poisoning, neuropathy, and lung cancer. Residents of "fenceline" communities adjacent to plastic production and waste disposal sites experience increased risks of premature birth, low birth weight, asthma, childhood leukemia, cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lung cancer.During use and also in disposal, plastics release toxic chemicals including additives and residual monomers into the environment and into people. National biomonitoring surveys in the USA document population-wide exposures to these chemicals. Plastic additives disrupt endocrine function and increase risk for premature births, neurodevelopmental disorders, male reproductive birth defects, infertility, obesity, cardiovascular disease, renal disease, and cancers. Chemical-laden MNPs formed through the environmental degradation of plastic waste can enter living organisms, including humans. Emerging, albeit still incomplete evidence indicates that MNPs may cause toxicity due to their physical and toxicological effects as well as by acting as vectors that transport toxic chemicals and bacterial pathogens into tissues and cells.Infants in the womb and young children are two populations at particularly high risk of plastic-related health effects. Because of the exquisite sensitivity of early development to hazardous chemicals and children's unique patterns of exposure, plastic-associated exposures are linked to increased risks of prematurity, stillbirth, low birth weight, birth defects of the reproductive organs, neurodevelopmental impairment, impaired lung growth, and childhood cancer. Early-life exposures to plastic-associated chemicals also increase the risk of multiple non-communicable diseases later in life.

Economic Findings

Plastic's harms to human health result in significant economic costs. We estimate that in 2015 the health-related costs of plastic production exceeded $250 billion (2015 Int$) globally, and that in the USA alone the health costs of disease and disability caused by the plastic-associated chemicals PBDE, BPA and DEHP exceeded $920 billion (2015 Int$). Plastic production results in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions equivalent to 1.96 gigatons of carbon dioxide (CO2e) annually. Using the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) social cost of carbon metric, we estimate the annual costs of these GHG emissions to be $341 billion (2015 Int$).These costs, large as they are, almost certainly underestimate the full economic losses resulting from plastics' negative impacts on human health and the global environment. All of plastics' economic costs-and also its social costs-are externalized by the petrochemical and plastic manufacturing industry and are borne by citizens, taxpayers, and governments in countries around the world without compensation.

Social Justice Findings

The adverse effects of plastics and plastic pollution on human health, the economy and the environment are not evenly distributed. They disproportionately affect poor, disempowered, and marginalized populations such as workers, racial and ethnic minorities, "fenceline" communities, Indigenous groups, women, and children, all of whom had little to do with creating the current plastics crisis and lack the political influence or the resources to address it. Plastics' harmful impacts across its life cycle are most keenly felt in the Global South, in small island states, and in disenfranchised areas in the Global North. Social and environmental justice (SEJ) principles require reversal of these inequitable burdens to ensure that no group bears a disproportionate share of plastics' negative impacts and that those who benefit economically from plastic bear their fair share of its currently externalized costs.

Conclusions

It is now clear that current patterns of plastic production, use, and disposal are not sustainable and are responsible for significant harms to human health, the environment, and the economy as well as for deep societal injustices.The main driver of these worsening harms is an almost exponential and still accelerating increase in global plastic production. Plastics' harms are further magnified by low rates of recovery and recycling and by the long persistence of plastic waste in the environment.The thousands of chemicals in plastics-monomers, additives, processing agents, and non-intentionally added substances-include amongst their number known human carcinogens, endocrine disruptors, neurotoxicants, and persistent organic pollutants. These chemicals are responsible for many of plastics' known harms to human and planetary health. The chemicals leach out of plastics, enter the environment, cause pollution, and result in human exposure and disease. All efforts to reduce plastics' hazards must address the hazards of plastic-associated chemicals.

Recommendations

To protect human and planetary health, especially the health of vulnerable and at-risk populations, and put the world on track to end plastic pollution by 2040, this Commission supports urgent adoption by the world's nations of a strong and comprehensive Global Plastics Treaty in accord with the mandate set forth in the March 2022 resolution of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA).International measures such as a Global Plastics Treaty are needed to curb plastic production and pollution, because the harms to human health and the environment caused by plastics, plastic-associated chemicals and plastic waste transcend national boundaries, are planetary in their scale, and have disproportionate impacts on the health and well-being of people in the world's poorest nations. Effective implementation of the Global Plastics Treaty will require that international action be coordinated and complemented by interventions at the national, regional, and local levels.This Commission urges that a cap on global plastic production with targets, timetables, and national contributions be a central provision of the Global Plastics Treaty. We recommend inclusion of the following additional provisions:The Treaty needs to extend beyond microplastics and marine litter to include all of the many thousands of chemicals incorporated into plastics.The Treaty needs to include a provision banning or severely restricting manufacture and use of unnecessary, avoidable, and problematic plastic items, especially single-use items such as manufactured plastic microbeads.The Treaty needs to include requirements on extended producer responsibility (EPR) that make fossil carbon producers, plastic producers, and the manufacturers of plastic products legally and financially responsible for the safety and end-of-life management of all the materials they produce and sell.The Treaty needs to mandate reductions in the chemical complexity of plastic products; health-protective standards for plastics and plastic additives; a requirement for use of sustainable non-toxic materials; full disclosure of all components; and traceability of components. International cooperation will be essential to implementing and enforcing these standards.The Treaty needs to include SEJ remedies at each stage of the plastic life cycle designed to fill gaps in community knowledge and advance both distributional and procedural equity.This Commission encourages inclusion in the Global Plastic Treaty of a provision calling for exploration of listing at least some plastic polymers as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) under the Stockholm Convention.This Commission encourages a strong interface between the Global Plastics Treaty and the Basel and London Conventions to enhance management of hazardous plastic waste and slow current massive exports of plastic waste into the world's least-developed countries.This Commission recommends the creation of a Permanent Science Policy Advisory Body to guide the Treaty's implementation. The main priorities of this Body would be to guide Member States and other stakeholders in evaluating which solutions are most effective in reducing plastic consumption, enhancing plastic waste recovery and recycling, and curbing the generation of plastic waste. This Body could also assess trade-offs among these solutions and evaluate safer alternatives to current plastics. It could monitor the transnational export of plastic waste. It could coordinate robust oceanic-, land-, and air-based MNP monitoring programs.This Commission recommends urgent investment by national governments in research into solutions to the global plastic crisis. This research will need to determine which solutions are most effective and cost-effective in the context of particular countries and assess the risks and benefits of proposed solutions. Oceanographic and environmental research is needed to better measure concentrations and impacts of plastics <10 µm and understand their distribution and fate in the global environment. Biomedical research is needed to elucidate the human health impacts of plastics, especially MNPs.

Summary

This Commission finds that plastics are both a boon to humanity and a stealth threat to human and planetary health. Plastics convey enormous benefits, but current linear patterns of plastic production, use, and disposal that pay little attention to sustainable design or safe materials and a near absence of recovery, reuse, and recycling are responsible for grave harms to health, widespread environmental damage, great economic costs, and deep societal injustices. These harms are rapidly worsening.While there remain gaps in knowledge about plastics' harms and uncertainties about their full magnitude, the evidence available today demonstrates unequivocally that these impacts are great and that they will increase in severity in the absence of urgent and effective intervention at global scale. Manufacture and use of essential plastics may continue. However, reckless increases in plastic production, and especially increases in the manufacture of an ever-increasing array of unnecessary single-use plastic products, need to be curbed.Global intervention against the plastic crisis is needed now because the costs of failure to act will be immense.

We need to plan streamlined environmental impact assessment for the future X-Press Pearl disasters

The X-Press Pearl disaster illustrates the urgent needs for streamlined environmental impact assessment to inform decision making. The environmental contamination caused by the disaster is complex, and the biological impact of different environmental stressors, and at different biological scales, needs to be determined. Traditional methods for analyzing complex environmental stressors are often inefficient and do not reflect the biological impact of pollution. The combination of chemical stressors and biological impacts is the key to environmental impact assessment based on integrated monitoring. Whole-cell bioreporters are tools for rapid, efficient and quantitative detection of the bioavailability, stressor effects, and toxicity of pollutants, i.e., spanning a wide range of applications. Here we propose the view that using whole-cell bioreporter technology to streamline short-term environmental impact assessment for maritime disasters such as the X-Press Pearl is more fit-for-purpose/practical than other approaches in use.