Microplastics: Footprints On The Earth and Their Environmental Management

104 Pages·2022·2.228 MB·English

by  Ramkumar Muthuvairavasamy

Mu Ramkumar
Microplastics
Footprints On The Earth and Their
Environmental Management
Microplastics
Ramkumar Muthuvairavasamy
Microplastics
Footprints On The Earth and Their
Environmental Management
Ramkumar Muthuvairavasamy
Department of Geology
Periyar University
Salem, Tamil Nadu, India
ISBN 978-3-031-10728-3 ISBN 978-3-031-10729-0 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10729-0
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature
Switzerland AG 2022
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether
the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of
illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and
transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar
or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication
does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant
protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book
are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the
editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any
errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional
claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
v
Preface
The book is planned and designed for a broad audience of beginners, enthusiasts,
graduate students of Earth, environmental, ecological, and other related sciences,
administrators and policy makers, and practitioners and personnel in environmental
management organizations who would like to avail current knowledge on micro-
plastics as a menace. The information presented in this book is organized into 12
chapters that take the reader into a systematic progression of thoughts: beginning
with introduction of plastics, moving on to classification, followed by interaction of
plastics in every sphere of Earth, then examining spatial distribution in the environ-
ment, and finally discussing mitigation methods, concluding with a list of future
challenges.
Each chapter is subdivided into separate sections for easy understanding of the
data and concepts. The information presented in the chapters is compiled from
research articles and books on various fields including, but not limited to, biology,
environmental science, chemistry, management, policy, and geology. By compiling
information from a variety of sub-disciplines, this book presents a holistic picture of
microplastics in a concise yet in-depth manner from their source to sink, environ-
mental interactions, distribution and transfer among various spheres, and effective
management. Besides, gaps in our current understanding are identified, and bottle-
necks in current technologies and analytical techniques are enlisted and presented
as future challenges.
Instead of being a simple compilation or review, this book also presents a new,
systematic classification for plastic pollutants, and clarifies the existing misunder-
standings and multiple meanings for single terms and multiple terms for single pro-
cesses, among others, through presenting succinct definitions. Current understanding
on the origin, source, and mechanisms of transport of microplastics among and
between different spheres and planetary boundaries of Earth, processes involved in
accumulation of microplastics and the zones of accumulations, the factors contrib-
uting to degeneration and recycling of microplastics, toxicity potential, and bioac-
cumulation and biomagnification of microplastics, methods of sampling, analytical
protocols, bottlenecks in establishing data compatibility, and assessments of thresh-
old levels, hotspots, and spatial and temporal distribution, among others, has also
vii
viii Preface
been concisely presented. These are followed by the identification of gaps in our
current understanding, and the methods and techniques of mitigation and manage-
ment of plastic pollutants.
Thus, this book may serve as a course material for students, guideline for plan-
ners and administrators, and reference material for researchers and professionals.
Salem, Tamil Nadu, India Ramkumar Muthuvairavasamy
Acknowledgments
Recent publications that documented the accumulation of plastics in sediment lay-
ers sprawling from snowy peaks of mountains, polar regions, and deserts to abyssal
plains and based on which espoused the utility of microplastics in sediments as
stratigraphic marker to define/demarcate the lower bounding surface of the sedi-
ment layer as the stratigraphic boundary of the Anthropocene Epoch were the start-
ers for my interest in microplastics. Reading about microplasctics, principally to
enhance my understanding as a chemostratigrapher and sedimentary environmental
modeler, I soon realized that as the available literature is written by experts of myr-
iad sub-disciplines, its tone, tenor, and language would be understood only by a
select group of audience while microplastics as pollutants are of concern to the
general public! A large section of the general public, administrators, policy makers,
and non-governmental and environmental organizations may be interested to gain
knowledge on microplastics, but highly specialized and nuanced books and scien-
tific research publications cannot cater to educating this large audience. In other
words, the information is widely scattered in highly specialized subject journals and
books, making accessibility of the information highly restricted. However, the
impact of microplastics has permeated into the everyday lives of the common folk,
who need to be informed about the impending danger. Besides, the need for enthus-
ing beginners in this field of research that draws tools and methods from a variety of
sub-disciplines has also been felt. This entails a comprehensive, middle-level book
that may serve as a course material for beginners and teachers, and reference mate-
rial for professionals. Thus was sown the seed of this book.
I thank the authors and researchers whose articles and books are referred to in
this volume. Dr. K. Balasubramani, Department of Geography, Central University
of Tamil Nadu, Thiruvarur, India, and Shri. A. Mahohar, M/s Silvia Lasers,
Tiruchirappalli, India, are thanked for their help in drawing and designing few dia-
grams. The four anonymous reviewers of my book proposal, and administrative and
technical teams of Springer-Nature including, but not limited to, Dr. Aaron Schiller
that have evaluated and approved my book proposal and the production team includ-
ing Clement Wilson Kamalesh, Springer-Nature are thanked for their encourage-
ment, cooperation and professional handling of the work.
ix
x Acknowledgments
Above all, I offer my gratitude at the lotus feet of Lord Shree Ranganatha, for his
boundless mercy showered on me, and by whose ordinance those mentioned above
have shouldered the responsibilities and helped me to complete this work.
Salem, Tamil Nadu, India Ramkumar Muthuvairavasamy
Contents
1 Emergence of Plastic as a Pollutant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Origin and Growth of Plastic Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.3 Plastics as Pollutants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2 Types and Classifiction of Plastic Pollutants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.1 Compositional Varieties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.2 Types Based on Thermal Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.3 Modifications by Physical and Chemical Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.4 Justification for Classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.5 Definitions and Parameters for Classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.5.1 Origin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.5.2 Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.5.3 Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.5.4 Composition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.5.5 Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.5.6 Toxicity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.6 Morphometric Genetic Classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.7 Notations/Codes and Application of the Classification . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3 Weathering of Plastics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.1 Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.2 Processes and Factors of Weathering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3.3 Zones of Active Weathering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
4 Transport Pathways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4.1 Current Understanding on Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4.2 Atmospheric Transport. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
4.3 Transport in the Land/Soil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
4.4 Transport in the Aqueous Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
xi