Setting the course: aligning European Union marine pollution policy ambitions with environmental realities

Pollution in coastal and marine waters is a global challenge that transcends national boundaries, affecting interconnected seas, the ocean and broader ecosystems. Addressing marine pollution requires policies that encompass not only the marine domain but the entire ecosystem, including human societies. Therefore, a comprehensive and integrated governance approach, linking land-based sources to marine environments, is essential for effective pollution management and mitigation. This study assesses the current environmental status of persistent, long-lasting and emerging pollutants (PCBs, excess nutrients, microplastics, PFAS, and underwater noise) and cumulative effects of pollution, and compares these with the set European Union (EU) environmental goals and ambitions. A systematic review of EU policy documents reveals that several targets are unclear, arbitrary, and often unattainable, limiting the effectiveness of current strategies. This paper presents five actionable recommendations to strengthen marine environmental policy, emphasizing the need for better alignment between EU ambitions and environmental realities. To enhance EU pollution policies, it is crucial to reinforce regulatory frameworks, ensure the effective enforcement of existing legislation, foster collaboration across sectors, and empower citizens and NGOs. Additionally, integrating health and pollution policies, ensuring public access to pollution data and knowledge, and establishing international leadership in pollution efforts are key for making informed decisions and achieving ambitious pollution reduction targets

Bioaccumulation of PCBs from microplastics in Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus):An experimental study

Plastic debris acts as a sorbent phase for hydrophobic organic compounds like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Chemical partitioning models predict that the ingestion of microplastics with adsorbed chemicals in the field will tend not to result in significant net desorption of the chemical to the organism's tissues. This is expected due to the often limited differences in fugacity of the chemical between the indigestible plastic materials and the tissues, which are typically already exposed in the same environment to the same chemicals as the plastic. However laboratory trials validating these model predictions are scarce. In this study, PCB-loaded microplastics were offered to field-collected Norway lobsters (Nephrops norvegicus) during in vivo feeding laboratory experiments. Each ingestion experiment was repeated with and without loading a mixture of ten PCB congeners onto plastic microspheres (MS) made of polyethylene (PE) and polystyrene (PS) with diameters of either 500–600 μm or 6 μm. We observed that the presence of chemicals adsorbed to ingested microplastics did not lead to significant bioaccumulation of the chemicals in the exposed organisms. There was a limited uptake of PCBs in Nephrops tail tissue after ingestion of PCB-loaded PE MS, while almost no PCBs were detected in animals exposed to PS MS. In general, our results demonstrated that after 3 weeks of exposure the ingestion of plastic MS themselves did not affect the nutritional state of wild Nephrops

Bacterial community profiling of plastic litter in the Belgian part of the North Sea

Bacterial colonization of marine plastic litter (MPL) is known for over four decades. Still, only a few studies on the plastic colonization process and its influencing factors are reported. In this study, seafloor MPL was sampled at different locations across the Belgian part of the North Sea to study bacterial community structure using 16S metabarcoding. These marine plastic bacterial communities were compared with those of sediment and seawater, and resin pellets sampled on the beach, to investigate the origin and uniqueness of plastic bacterial communities. Plastics display great variation of bacterial community composition, while each showed significant differences from those of sediment and seawater, indicating that plastics represent a distinct environmental niche. Various environmental factors correlate with the diversity of MPL bacterial composition across plastics. In addition, intrinsic plastic-related factors such as pigment content may contribute to the differences in bacterial colonization. Furthermore, the differential abundance of known primary and secondary colonizers across the various plastics may indicate different stages of bacterial colonization, and may confound comparisons of free-floating plastics. Our studies provide insights in the factors that shape plastic bacterial colonization and shed light on the possible role of plastic as transport vehicle for bacteria through the aquatic environment

Fragmentation of plastic objects in a laboratory seawater microcosm

AbstractWe studied the fragmentation of conventional thermoplastic and compostable plastic items in a laboratory seawater microcosm. In the microcosm, polyurethane foams, cellulose acetate cigarette filters, and compostable polyester and polylactic acid items readily sank, whereas polyethylene air pouches, latex balloons, polystyrene foams and polypropylene cups remained afloat. Microbial biofilms dominated by Cyanobacteria, Proteobacteria, Planctomycetes and Bacteriodetes grew on the plastics, and caused some of the polyethylene items to sink to the bottom. Electrical resistances (ER) of plastic items decreased as function of time, an indication that seawater had penetrated into microscopic crevices in the plastic that had developed over time. Rate constants for ER decrease in polyethylene items in the microcosm were similar to tensile elongation decrease of polyethylene sheets floating in sea, measured previously by others. Weight loss of plastic items was ≤ 1% per year for polyethylene, polystyrene and polypropylene, 3–5% for latex, polyethylene terephthalate and polyurethane, 15% for cellulose acetate, and 7–27% for polyester and polylactic acid compostable bags. The formation of microplastics observed in the microcosm was responsible for at least part of the weight loss. This study emphasizes the need to obtain experimental data on plastic litter degradation under conditions that are realistic for marine environments.</jats:p

Fragmentation of plastic objects in a laboratory seawater microcosm

We studied the fragmentation of conventional thermoplastic and compostable plastic items in a laboratory seawater microcosm. In the microcosm, polyurethane foams, cellulose acetate cigarette filters, and compostable polyester and polylactic acid items readily sank, whereas polyethylene air pouches, latex balloons, polystyrene foams and polypropylene cups remained afloat. Microbial biofilms dominated by Cyanobacteria, Proteobacteria, Planctomycetes and Bacteriodetes grew on the plastics, and caused some of the polyethylene items to sink to the bottom. Electrical resistances (ER) of plastic items decreased as function of time, an indication that seawater had penetrated into microscopic crevices in the plastic that had developed over time. Rate constants for ER decrease in polyethylene items in the microcosm were similar to tensile elongation decrease of polyethylene sheets floating in sea, measured previously by others. Weight loss of plastic items was ≤ 1% per year for polyethylene, polystyrene and polypropylene, 3–5% for latex, polyethylene terephthalate and polyurethane, 15% for cellulose acetate, and 7–27% for polyester and polylactic acid compostable bags. The formation of microplastics observed in the microcosm was responsible for at least part of the weight loss. This study emphasizes the need to obtain experimental data on plastic litter degradation under conditions that are realistic for marine environments

A comprehensive assessment of plastic remediation technologies

The global presence of plastic litter and its accumulation in the environment has become an issue of concern to the public and policymakers. This concern has triggered innovators in past decades to design and develop a multitude of remediation technologies to prevent plastic from entering the environment, or to clean up legacy litter. This study aims to (i) systematically review the current scientific literature on plastic remediation technologies, (ii) create a ‘plastic clean-up and prevention overview’ illustrating 124 remediation technologies and 29 characteristics, (iii) qualitatively analyse their key characteristics (e.g., fields of application, targeted plastic), and (iv) investigate challenges and opportunities of clean-up technologies for inland waterways (e.g., canals, rivers) and ports. We identified 61 scientific publications on plastic remediation technologies, until June 2022. Thirty-four of these studies were published within the last three years, demonstrating a growing interest. The presented overview indicates that inland waterways are, so far, the preferred field of application, with 22 technologies specifically designed for cleaning up plastics from inland waterways, and 52 additional ones with the potential to be installed in these locations. Given the importance of clean-up technologies in inland waterways, we highlighted their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT). Our results indicate that, despite the challenges, these technologies provide essential prospects, from improving the environmental quality to raising awareness. Our study is instrumental as it illustrates an up-to-date overview and provides a comprehensive analysis of current in design phase, testing, and in use plastic remediation technologies

Spectral reflectance measurements of dry and wet plastic materials, asphalt, concrete klinker from SWIR 1001 nm to SWIR-1750 nm around Spuikom, Belgium

Lambertian-equivalent hyperspectral reflectance measurements were completed on 26 June 2019 on the east shore of the Spuikom lagoon in Ostend, Belgium between 10:00 – 12:00 local time (UTC + 2 hrs) under natural sunlight. An ASD spectroradiometer covering the wavelength ranges 350 nm to 2500 nm was operated in reflectance mode and was fitted with an 8° field-of-view lens. Relative reflectance was derived by white referencing using the 99% white Lambertian plaque, the calibration reflectance factor of the panel is also provided with this dataset. Each relative reflectance measurement over a sample was taken as an average of 30 continuous scans. The measurement sequence involved a white reference measurement followed by a sequence of 10 random point sampling of the sample and then another white reference. We did concrete bricks near the dry land target that had a pattern of faded red and gray bricks. We did first 10 over gray and the second 10 over red bricks. We measured over the asphalt in the road next to the sail club and adjacent to the dry target.The plastic targets included small boats, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) water bottles and low-density polyethylene (LDPE) PMD plastic bags

Spectral reflectance measurements of dry and wet plastic materials, asphalt, concrete klinker from SWIR-1751 nm to SWIR-2500 nm around Spuikom, Belgium

Lambertian-equivalent hyperspectral reflectance measurements were completed on 26 June 2019 on the east shore of the Spuikom lagoon in Ostend, Belgium between 10:00 – 12:00 local time (UTC + 2 hrs) under natural sunlight. An ASD spectroradiometer covering the wavelength ranges 350 nm to 2500 nm was operated in reflectance mode and was fitted with an 8° field-of-view lens. Relative reflectance was derived by white referencing using the 99% white Lambertian plaque, the calibration reflectance factor of the panel is also provided with this dataset. Each relative reflectance measurement over a sample was taken as an average of 30 continuous scans. The measurement sequence involved a white reference measurement followed by a sequence of 10 random point sampling of the sample and then another white reference. We did concrete bricks near the dry land target that had a pattern of faded red and gray bricks. We did first 10 over gray and the second 10 over red bricks. We measured over the asphalt in the road next to the sail club and adjacent to the dry target. The plastic targets included small boats, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) water bottles and low-density polyethylene (LDPE) PMD plastic bags

Spectral reflectance measurements of dry and wet plastic materials, asphalt, concrete klinker from UV-350 nm to SWIR-1000 nm around Spuikom, Belgium

Lambertian-equivalent hyperspectral reflectance measurements were completed on 26 June 2019 on the east shore of the Spuikom lagoon in Ostend, Belgium between 10:00 – 12:00 local time (UTC + 2 hrs) under natural sunlight. An ASD spectroradiometer covering the wavelength ranges 350 nm to 2500 nm was operated in reflectance mode and was fitted with an 8° field-of-view lens. Relative reflectance was derived by white referencing using the 99% white Lambertian plaque, the calibration reflectance factor of the panel is also provided with this dataset. Each relative reflectance measurement over a sample was taken as an average of 30 continuous scans. The measurement sequence involved a white reference measurement followed by a sequence of 10 random point sampling of the sample and then another white reference. We did concrete bricks near the dry land target that had a pattern of faded red and gray bricks. We did first 10 over gray and the second 10 over red bricks. We measured over the asphalt in the road next to the sail club and adjacent to the dry target.The plastic targets included small boats, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) water bottles and low-density polyethylene (LDPE) PMD plastic bags

Spectral reflectance measurements of dry and wet plastic materials, asphalt, concrete klinker from SWIR-1751 nm to SWIR-2500 nm around Spuikom, Belgium

Lambertian-equivalent hyperspectral reflectance measurements were completed on 26 June 2019 on the east shore of the Spuikom lagoon in Ostend, Belgium between 10:00 – 12:00 local time (UTC + 2 hrs) under natural sunlight. An ASD spectroradiometer covering the wavelength ranges 350 nm to 2500 nm was operated in reflectance mode and was fitted with an 8° field-of-view lens. Relative reflectance was derived by white referencing using the 99% white Lambertian plaque, the calibration reflectance factor of the panel is also provided with this dataset. Each relative reflectance measurement over a sample was taken as an average of 30 continuous scans. The measurement sequence involved a white reference measurement followed by a sequence of 10 random point sampling of the sample and then another white reference. We did concrete bricks near the dry land target that had a pattern of faded red and gray bricks. We did first 10 over gray and the second 10 over red bricks. We measured over the asphalt in the road next to the sail club and adjacent to the dry target. The plastic targets included small boats, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) water bottles and low-density polyethylene (LDPE) PMD plastic bags