Plastic debris resin pellets

International Pellet Watch tells us not only about the pollution status of various POPs and their global distribution, but also about risks associated with chemicals in marine plastics. Because pellets contain POPs, they act as carriers to various species of seabirds, which mistake them for food. However, plastic resin pellets are a minor component of marine plastics debris. The majority of plastics in beach debris are fragments of user plastics, as shown in Figure 11.4 and discussed elsewhere in this book. This plastic debris is also observed floating on the sea surface (Law et al. 2010), and can be ingested by seabirds (Yamashita et al. 2011). These plastic fragments also contain POPs. 

Plastic bottle caps containing nonylphenols are a potential threat not only to humans but also to wildlife. Plastic caps are some of the most frequently detected debris on beaches. They are as ubiquitous as resin pellets. International Pellet Watch analysed 58 plastic caps collected from several Japanese beaches (see Figure 11.8a). Among seven caps collected on a beach in Tokyo Bay, only one sample contained nonylphenols. This is reasonable because Tokyo Bay is a semi-enclosed bay and it is mostly Japanese plastic caps, which contain trace amounts of nonylphenol as indicated above, that are found on the beaches. On the other hand, nonylphenols were more frequently detected in plastic caps collected on beaches in the western islands of Japan, which are more exposed to ocean currents from China (see Figure 11.8b). A total of 28 caps among 45 samples on the western islands contained... 

---