Kendra Stefanski
EDST 6216
Annotated Bibliography
The Impact of Plastic Pollution on the Ocean and Its Creatures
Regardless of our efforts to increase recycling efforts, over 90% of plastic waste is not recycled. In fact, since
plastic was first introduced in the 1950's, over 9 billion tons of plastic has been produced. And virtually every single
piece of that plastic still exists, even if it has changed form over time. Plastic waste leaks into our waterways and plastic
pollution inevitably finds its way into the ocean, harming the delicate balance of life that exists in its waters. The
sources below were selected to provide insight into the following research questions:
(1) In what ways does plastic pollution harm the marine environment?
(2) How is the health of marine animals impacted by plastic waste?
(3) How is society attempting to reduce the impact of plastic pollution on the ocean and its creatures?
The range of sources provide a definition of plastic pollution problem, an analysis of its impact, as well as global
perspectives of its impact on marine environment. Articles address current policies, research studies, and expert
opinions on the impact of plastic waste on our environment; sources report interventions and innovations that can help
stem the tide of plastic pollution.
Title: (1) The behaviors of microplastics in the marine environment
URL: [Link]
Annotation: Published in the Feb 2016 issue of the academic journal Marine Environmental
Research, the article traces the physical, chemical, and biological behaviors of
microplastics in a marine environment. The article is particularly useful in that it
outlines and analyzes research regarding the environmental impact of microplastics,
as well the effects of microplastics on sea life.
Quotes:
Title: (2) International policies to reduce plastic marine pollution from single-use
plastics
URL: [Link]
[Link]?_tid=e3b999aa-faff-4c1c-a0c2-
c3dfcb982781&acdnat=1529193675_a47117dd728384cb3e48cf2f85474123
Annotation: Published in the May 2017 Marine Pollution Bulletin, the article reviews current
research on international policies set in place to reduce plastic marine pollution from
single-use plastics. The article focuses on effects of plastic bags and microbeads on
the marine environment. It examines the effectiveness of government policies created
to restrict or ban the distribution on these products.
Quotes:
Title: (3) A call for Canada to move toward zero plastic waste by reducing and
recycling single-use plastics
URL: [Link]
[Link]?_tid=08afb41a-dc84-4794-8e11-
ec97737649eb&acdnat=1529197073_2b97345f884f568dc10e90608eeab46c
Annotation: An opinion piece published in the June 2018 issues of the journal, Resources,
Conservation & Recycling, the article encourages the Canadian government in reducing
single-use plastics. The article highlights successful international interventions,
persuading the government to create policies which protect the environment. While
the article is persuasive in nature, it relies upon some of the most current reviews of
the effectiveness of international policies to control plastic pollution.
Quotes:
Title: (4) Loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta): A target species for monitoring
litter ingested by marine organisms in the Mediterranean Sea
URL: [Link]
[Link]/science/article/pii/S0269749116313045#bib9
Annotation: This article, published in the November 2017 issue of the journal Environmental
Pollution, discusses the loggerhead turtle's recognition as the main target species for
study of litter ingestion in the countries surrounding the Mediterranean. The findings
from the study indicate that ingestion is the loggerhead turtle's primary interaction
with marine litter.
Quotes:
Title: (5) The impact of debris on marine life
URL: [Link]
[Link]/science/article/pii/S0025326X14008571
Annotation: This review of literature available on the impact of debris on marine life was published
in the March 15, 2015 issues of Marine Pollution Bulletin. It reviews and gives an
overview of current published research on the effects of marine debris on animal life.
It examines the breadth of the impact, particularly on threatened or endangered
species.
Quotes:
Title: (6) Challenges and opportunities of biodegradable plastics: A mini review -
Maja Rujnić-Sokele, Ana Pilipović, 2017
URL: [Link]
Annotation: This review of literature available on the problems and possibilities of reducing plastic
waste was published in the January 9, 2017 issue of Waste Management and Research,
a professional journal. It reviews and gives an overview of current published research
regarding biodegradable plastics, particularly the challenges involved in many of the
efforts to break down biodegradable plastics and the options available to do so. It also
highlights the often-misunderstood differences between biobased plastics,
biodegradable plastics, and compostable plastics.
Quotes:
Title:
Earth Day 2018: To Fix Plastic Pollution, We Need to Solve the Right Problem
(7)
URL: [Link]
problem-to-fix-plastic-
pollution/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI28Kuwbrb2wIVhR6GCh07tgAZEAAYASAAEgLhhfD_BwE
Annotation: This article, published April 13, 2018 on the blog page for the American Chemistry
Council, discusses some of the most promising developments in reducing and reusing
plastic waste. It also summarizes some of the most recent international policy
protecting the environment from plastic pollution.
Quotes:
Title: (8) Accumulation and fragmentation of plastic debris in global environments
URL: [Link]
Annotation: This article, published in the biological research journal Philosophical Transactions of the
Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, was particularly helpful in establishing the trends in
plastic debris in the ocean over the past 20 years. The text explains reasons why some of
the trends in debris may be misleading.
Quotes:
Title: (9) Environmental implications of plastic debris in marine settings—entanglement,
ingestion, smothering, hangers-on, hitch-hiking and alien invasions
URL: [Link]
Annotation: In a second article published in the biological research journal Philosophical Transactions of
the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, the negative effects of plastic debris on marine life
is discussed in depth. Additional information is provided regarding specific accounts of
entanglement and ingestion across a wide variety of species. Also, other implications of
plastic debris were detailed such as smothering and the introduction of alien species.
Future implications, particularly for the Antarctic region, were predicted based upon recent
activity.
Quotes:
Title: (10) Survey on awareness and attitudes of secondary school students
regarding plastic pollution: implications for environmental
education and public health in Sharjah city, UAE
URL: Downloaded PDF
chrome-
extension://pnhplgjpclknigjpccbcnmicgcieojbh/pdf/[Link]?file=[Link]
[Link]/content/pdf/10.1007%[Link]
Annotation: This 2016 study, published in the journal Environmental Science and Pollution Research,
centers on the environmental awareness of plastic pollution of secondary school students in UAE. It
has been difficult to find a similar study performed in the United States. Though some
environmental factors are different, many of the same methods for improving awareness can be
applied to American students.
Quotes:
Title: (11) Prevention through policy: Urban macroplastic leakages to the marine
environment during extreme rainfall events
URL: [Link]
[Link]/science/article/pii/S0025326X17306069
Annotation: This study, published in the November 2017 issue of the Marine Pollution Bulletin examined
the macroplastic leakage after-effects of extreme rainfall events in 9 cities throughout the
world. The study evaluates the ways that different cities deal with waste and explains the
dangers of extreme rainfall events regarding plastic leakage. A list of recommendations for
cities regarding policy and prevention was of interest.
Quotes:
Title:
(12) Alert calling in port areas: Marine litter as possible secondary dispersal
vector for hitchhiking invasive species
URL: [Link]
[Link]/science/article/pii/S161713811730198X
Annotation: This study, published in April 2018 issue of the Journal for Nature Conservation,
examines the role of floating plastic debris as a transport for non-indigenous species in
the ports of the North Iberian coast. As floating marine litter travels on currents, it
carries with it organisms which, when introduced to a non-native environment, can
become potentially invasive and can decrease or eliminate endemic species.
Quotes:
Title: (13) The Possibility of Making a Composite Material from Waste Plastic
URL: [Link]
[Link]?_tid=97bc7167-6a9a-426a-881a-
052a0614c36a&acdnat=1529293698_b2705ff5db843efcb975315821215ec3
Annotation: This special issue of Energy Procedia reports the findings presented at the
International Conference on Technologies and Materials for Renewable Energy,
Environment, and Sustainability. This particular study was designed to determine
whether incineration could be used to transform sand and non-biodegradable plastic
into a polymer roof tile. This process has dual benefits of reducing plastic waste and
creating a new product from one that would otherwise find its way into a landfill.
Quotes: • Recycling of plastic waste to produce new materials is one of the solution for
getting rid of the mountains of trash
• The researchers indicated that the waste plastic could be reused as partial
substitutes for sand [14], [2, 7, 14] or coarse aggregate [10].
• In our study we have successfully demonstrated that it is possible to
manufactured roof tile from recycled HDPEr and sand dune. This is one of the
most effective methods that can be applied to get rid and save the world form
the environmental pollutants
• According the results this polymer roof tile has potential to be used as Clay
roof tile.
Title:
(14) Vancouver to ban plastic drinking straws
URL: [Link]
8f24-
477e9d648966&pddocfullpath=%2Fshared%2Fdocument%2Fnews%2Furn%3AcontentItem%3A5SC2-
7FY1-JCRP-C1WJ-00000-00&pddocid=urn%3AcontentItem%3A5SC2-7FY1-JCRP-C1WJ-00000-
00&pdcontentcomponentid=303830&pdteaserkey=sr0&pditab=allpods&ecomp=Ly3k&earg=sr0&prid=1
09a6f94-7fe0-4550-a0f9-284648c4504f
Annotatio This article from the May 18, 2018 Globe & Mail, a Toronto-based newspaper, discusses passing of a
n: policy in Vancouver banning plastic drinking straws. The article is the most current source, and it
demonstrates the moment that the movement to control plastic pollution is gaining worldwide. The
article continues to outline similar legislation in other cities including Malibu, California, Scotland,
Taiwan, and England.
Quotes:
Title:
(15) Policy: Classify plastic waste as hazardous
URL: [Link]
Annotation: This opinion piece in Nature magazine, strongly based upon research, calls for a
change in policy regarding plastic waste. If plastic waste, which is currently classified
as solid waste, were reclassified as hazardous waste, countries would be held to
finding safer alternatives to the materials currently used to produce plastics. The
article points to historical precedence in the reclassification of CFCs to hazardous
waste in 1989 and 2004. All production of CFCs stopped withing 7 years. The authors
of the article believe that this change in policy could cause countries to develop a
closed-loop recycling system where plastic waste is reused and recycled.
Quotes:
