Plastic

Plastic

A plastic material is any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids used in the manufacture of industrial products. Plastics are typically polymers of high molecular mass, and may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce production costs...

 particles are an increasing cause of water pollution

Water pollution

Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies . Water pollution occurs when pollutants are discharged directly or indirectly into water bodies without adequate treatment to remove harmful compounds....

. The particles include nurdles, microbeads from cosmetics

Cosmetics

Cosmetics are substances used to enhance the appearance or odor of the human body. Cosmetics include skin-care creams, lotions, powders, perfumes, lipsticks, fingernail and toe nail polish, eye and facial makeup, towelettes, permanent waves, colored contact lenses, hair colors, hair sprays and...

 products and the breakdown products of plastic litter

Litter

Litter consists of waste products such as containers, papers, wrappers or faeces which have been disposed of without consent. Litter can also be used as a verb...

. Nurdles are pre-production plastic resin pellet typically under 5 mm (0.196850393700787 in) in diameter found outside of the typical plastics manufacturing stream. Pellets are an intermediate good

Intermediate good

Intermediate goods or producer goods are goods used as inputs in the production of other goods, such as partly finished goods. Also, they are goods used in production of final goods. A firm may make then use intermediate goods, or make then sell, or buy then use them...

 used to produce plastic final products. "Mermaid's tears" is a term sometimes used to describe the pollution.

Approximately 60 billion pounds (27 million tonne

Tonne

The tonne, known as the metric ton in the US , often put pleonastically as "metric tonne" to avoid confusion with ton, is a metric system unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. The tonne is not an International System of Units unit, but is accepted for use with the SI...

s) of nurdles are manufactured annually in the United States. One pound of pelletized

Pelletizing

Pelletizing is the process of compressing or molding a material into the shape of a pellet. A wide range of different materials are pelletized including chemicals, iron ore, animal compound feed, and more.- Pelletizing of iron ore :...

 HDPE contains approximately 25,000 nurdles (approximately 20 mg per nurdle).

Environmental impact

Nurdles are a major contributor to marine debris

Marine debris

Marine debris, also known as marine litter, is human created waste that has deliberately or accidentally become afloat in a lake, sea, ocean or waterway. Oceanic debris tends to accumulate at the centre of gyres and on coastlines, frequently washing aground, when it is known as beach litter or...

. During a three month study of Orange County

Orange County, California

Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...

 beaches researchers found them to be the most common beach contaminant. Nurdles comprised roughly 98% of the beach debris collected in a 2001 Orange County study. Waterborne nurdles may either be a raw material of plastic production

Plastics engineering

Plastics engineering encompasses the processing, design, development, and manufacture of plastics products. A plastic is a polymeric material that is in a semi-liquid state, having the property of plasticity and exhibiting flow. The nature of plastic materials poses unique challenges to an engineer...

, or from larger chunks of plastic that have been ground down. A major source of plastic may be the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Great Pacific Garbage Patch

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, also described as the Pacific Trash Vortex, is a gyre of marine litter in the central North Pacific Ocean located roughly between 135°W to 155°W and 35°N to 42°N...

, a growing collection of marine debris

Marine debris

Marine debris, also known as marine litter, is human created waste that has deliberately or accidentally become afloat in a lake, sea, ocean or waterway. Oceanic debris tends to accumulate at the centre of gyres and on coastlines, frequently washing aground, when it is known as beach litter or...

 known for its high concentrations of plastic litter.

Nurdles that escape from the plastic production process into waterways or oceans have become a significant source of ocean and beach pollution. Marine life is severely threatened by these small pieces of plastic: the creatures that make up the base of the marine food chain

Food web

A food web depicts feeding connections in an ecological community. Ecologists can broadly lump all life forms into one of two categories called trophic levels: 1) the autotrophs, and 2) the heterotrophs...

, such as krill

Krill

Krill is the common name given to the order Euphausiacea of shrimp-like marine crustaceans. Also known as euphausiids, these small invertebrates are found in all oceans of the world...

, are prematurely dying by choking on nurdles. Nurdles have frequently been found in the digestive tracts of various marine creatures, causing physiological damage by leaching plasticizers such as phthalates. Nurdles can carry two types of micropollutants in the marine environment: native plastic additives and hydrophobic pollutants absorbed from seawater. Concentrations of PCB

Polychlorinated biphenyl

Polychlorinated biphenyls are a class of organic compounds with 2 to 10 chlorine atoms attached to biphenyl, which is a molecule composed of two benzene rings. The chemical formula for PCBs is C12H10-xClx...

s and DDE

Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene

Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene is a chemical compound formed by the loss of hydrogen chloride from DDT, of which it is one of the more common breakdown products. DDE is fat soluble which tends to build up in the fat of animals. Due to its stability in fat, DDE is rarely excreted from the body,...

 on nurdles collected from Japanese coastal waters were found to be up to 1 million times higher than the levels detected in surrounding seawater.

Plastic microbeads used in cosmetic exfoliating

Exfoliation (cosmetology)

Exfoliation involves the removal of the oldest dead skin cells on the skin's outermost surface, and has been used for many years to help maintain skin. Exfoliation is involved in the process of all facials, during microdermabrasion or chemical peels at medical spas...

 products are also found in water.

See also

• Biodegradable plastics
• Endocrine disruptors
• Great Pacific Garbage Patch
  Great Pacific Garbage Patch
  The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, also described as the Pacific Trash Vortex, is a gyre of marine litter in the central North Pacific Ocean located roughly between 135°W to 155°W and 35°N to 42°N...
  
  
• Microplastics
  Microplastics
  Microplastics are small plastic particles in the environment and have become a paramount issue especially in the marine environment. Not unequivocally defined, some marine researchers define microplastics as all plastic particles smaller than 1 mm pertaining to their microscopic size range...