Articolo in rivista, 2023, ENG, 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115753

The interactions of plastic with tar and other petroleum derivatives in the marine environment: A general perspective

Saliu, Francesco; Lasagni, Marina; Clemenza, Massimiliano; Chubarenko, Irina; Esiukova, Elena; Suaria, Giuseppe

Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Milano-Bicocca; P.P.Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences; Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche; Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca

Plastic and oil pollution are closely linked to our dependence on petroleum derivatives. Their excessive use and inefficiencies in their management, have led to negative impacts on marine ecosystems since their very introduction. Agglomerates of tar, plastic, paraffins, and other petrochemicals and oil derivatives with naturally occurring materials, are increasingly widespread in coastal environments, stalling as an iconic and readable sign of environmental degradation. Starting from a historical review of the available reports on the occurrence of similar aggregates dating back to 1971, we highlight how most of these observations are based on the morphological description of the petroleum residues with no chemical fingerprinting and are mainly related to materials stranded on the coastline, with few and unclear indications for the open sea. We discuss here a list of scientific questions and knowledge gaps, that need to be examined by future studies.

Marine pollution bulletin. 197 , pp. 115753–?

Keywords

Aggregation, Paraffins, Petroleum, Plastic, Plastitar, Sinks

CNR authors

Suaria Giuseppe

CNR institutes

ISMAR – Istituto di scienze marine