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Ocean Pollution - Essay Samples And Topic Ideas For Free

Ocean pollution poses a dire threat to marine ecosystems and human health, driven by activities such as plastic disposal, chemical pollution, and oil spills. Essays could delve into the myriad sources of ocean pollution, exploring the scale and impact of contaminants like plastic debris, heavy metals, and agricultural runoff on marine life and coastal communities. Discussions might extend to the various international and national initiatives aimed at mitigating ocean pollution, including legal frameworks, technological innovations, and community-led conservation efforts. The discourse may also touch on the challenges and prospects of curbing ocean pollution, analyzing the effectiveness of current measures, and proposing holistic strategies that encompass policy, education, and technological advancements to foster a more sustainable interaction with marine environments. We have collected a large number of free essay examples about Ocean Pollution you can find in Papersowl database. You can use our samples for inspiration to write your own essay, research paper, or just to explore a new topic for yourself.

Ocean Pollution as a Major Problem

The Ocean is one of the major reasons why humans survive in this world. The Ocean provides us with water to drink and the fresh air we breathe. That's why the issue of ocean pollution is important and needs to be addressed as soon as possible. We depend on the ocean for so much in our life. Ocean pollution is becoming a major problem. Trash is piling up in our oceans but the question is, where is the trash coming […]

Ocean Pollution for the most Wildlife

The ocean is home to the most wildlife in the entire world. Every day people are destroying life in the ocean by polluting it. There are many different endangered animals in the ocean. Every day they are being killed off by man-made pollutants. The ocean covers more than eighty percent of the Earth so we should protect it by, being more conservative, recycling, and cleaning out the ocean (noaa.gov). Plastic pollution is deeply reflected on humans; over half of the […]

Plastic Pollution in the Oceans

“There is more microplastic in the ocean than there are stars in the Milky Way” (McCarthy). Many Americans consume plastic throughout the year and do not recycle all of it. The beaches are getting dirtier and dirtier but there is not much change going on. The wastes on the beaches, streets, and air are going into the ocean and harming the species. Pollution in the oceans is affecting the sea creatures because surfers are exposed to pathogens, sea turtles develop […]

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Ocean Pollution: Plastic

The topic that I chose to write about is ocean pollution, specifically plastic. I found a very interesting article by National Geographic that makes me wonder just how much plastic we use daily, and how much it affects marine life. According to the article, the Aquarium Conservation Partnership (ACP), comprising twenty-two aquariums in seventeen different states is pushing a campaign called "No Straw November". The campaign is a push to eliminate single-use plastic including plastic straws, bottles, and plastic in […]

Should the Government Regulate Ocean Pollution?

The government should regulate ocean pollution due to the fact they are one of the contributing factors to ocean pollution. Ocean pollution affects more than just the waterways. Marine life is decreasing day by day due to the amount of trash that builds up in our oceans. Agricultural fertilizer and climate change have also been afflicted in negative ways by the inconsiderate attitude towards our environment namely the ocean. From nuclear bomb testing to creating the Great Pacific garbage patch. […]

Plastic Pollution in the Ocean

All pollution is bad for the ocean and all the creatures in it. However, there is one material that is highly potent to the ocean, and that is plastic. It has many immensely negative effects on the ocean's wildlife. Thousands of marine animals die each year because of plastic debris. There are many ways that plastic can get to the ocean than you know. This has been an ongoing problem and still has not been stopped. Plastic was founded in […]

Ocean Pollution and a “dead Zone”

There is a “dead zone” the size of New Jersey in the Gulf of Mexico in which aquatic life cannot survive . There is a garbage patch the size of Texas in the Pacific Ocean. Dead zones and garbage patches are just some examples of the horrific effects that water pollution has on the life of all sorts. Every day, millions of sea critters, as well as humans, are victims to a harder life at the hand of pollution. With […]

Fight against Plastic Pollution

 Do you ever consider the life of the shopping bag you use to transport your groceries or the plastic straw that seems to come standard now with most beverages? “A bag that is used on average for 15 minutes, yet it could take 100 to 300 years to fragment” according to SAS.org. These often one-time-use plastics do more harm than good when looking at their long half-life and the effects on our environment, even though their implementation into the market […]

Plastic Pollution in the Philippines

The top countries that dispose of the most plastic are all in Asia the Philippines is the third. What is the problem, the Philippines are using too many plastic objects. Who has the pollution affected humans, food sources including, land animals, crops, and wildlife? Solutions what can the Philippines do to help the water pollution and save their and our world. What is the problem? “The Philippines generates 2.7 million tonnes of plastic waste annually and 20 percent – or […]

Pollution in the Pacific Ocean

Pollution has become an ongoing problem throughout the Earth. From air pollution to waste pollution, the Earth is getting destroyed from the carelessness of others. More importantly, plastic is one of the leading problems of waste pollution, as it can take hundreds of years to break down, if at all. As the plastic industries grow, so does the amount of waste that is created, and that trash has to go somewhere. Many don't tend to think about where their trash […]

Campaign against Plastic Pollution

Plastic has become a necessity in man’s life all around the world. Plastics are in everything; your toothbrush, mechanical pencil, cell phone, milk jug, and even your face wash. This “versatile, lightweight, flexible, moisture-resistant, strong, and relatively inexpensive” substance has dire consequences on the ocean environment because it is extremely durable and non-biodegradable (Le Guern, 2018). Consequently, plastic is found floating around in our oceans for decades. Some countries are enforcing taxes, laws, and bans on microplastics (such as plastic […]

Plastic Pollution in Tho Ocean: Facts and Information

To many, the ocean may just serve as a place for water recreation and fishing. However, without the ocean, the Earth would not have the air we breathe. The ocean produces over half the world’s oxygen and absorbs fifty times more carbon than the atmosphere. Covering more than 70 percent of the earth’s surface we truly have only one “World Ocean”. Home to 97 percent of the planet’s water supply saltwater moves from one part of the ocean to another […]

Plastic Pollution and its Effect on the Thermal Capacity of Seawater

The findings of this study indicate that as expected the natural albedo of seawater is susceptible to positive and negative forcing by pollution and natural agents. Comparison of oil and gas pollutants showed inverse temperature change profiles, with the oil sample heating more rapidly and cooling more slowly than seawater, while the plastic sample heated slower and cooled faster than the control. Regarding oil pollution, reports have shown that while a rainbow film of oil over the surface of the […]

Beach Clean-Up Study Shows Global Scope of Plastic Pollution

Have you ever been to the beach and seen trash laying there? Most people who see trash on the beach pick it up and throw it away. But, there are some people who see it and think “It’s just a little bit of trash, I’m sure it’s fine”. If you're one of those people I suggest you stop. There is so much waste in the ocean that destroys the life of marine animals. Not only does it hurt them and […]

Kinds of Pollution: the Future of Environment

Can you stay without light in your life?! Our environment is our light. God created the surroundings in their most beautiful form, but when a shadow got here over this light, our surroundings grew to become darkish and this shadow is us. The environment includes the living and non-living things that an organism interacts with or has an impact on it. Living elements that an organism interacts with are known as biotic elements: animals, plants, etc., abiotic elements are non-living […]

Mercury Pollution in our Ocean

Mercury pollution is everywhere, it's in the air that animals breath and we breath as well. It's also in our land and inside of our beautiful sea. Mercury is a metal that's heavy and is cycled throughout the earth. Mercy pollution is world wide and a global problem. The reason mercury pollution is an issue is because it hurts fish. The fish and shell fish breath in the water through there gills which is inside of the water that they […]

Plastic Pollution in Ocean

Abstract The use of plastic is a part and parcel of modern life. Because of its non-biodegradable nature, plastic garbage creates hazards both on the surface and in the water of seas and oceans. Inhabitants of the oceans are endangered due to plastic pollution. Moreover, the presence of tiny plastic particles in the marine food chain also raises questions about human health and food security. The UN Environment Assembly passed a resolution in Dec. 2017 to eliminate plastic pollution in […]

Plastic Pollution of Earth’s Oceans

Introduction Approximately 300 million tons of plastic is produced every year (Cressey 2016). It's disposable, yet long-lasting nature makes it critical to pose the question “where does all this plastic end up?” A large quantity of the plastic produced eventually ends up floating on the surface of the ocean- some even reach the seafood humans eat (Rochman, 2016). Plastic is a cheap, versatile, disposable material that does not degrade easily, making it a perfect candidate for a variety of uses […]

The Negative Effect of Single Use Plastic

One of the largest producers of plastic wastes in Asia is the Philippines. According to PhilStar Global (2018), about 79 percent of branded plastic residual wastes came from food packaging, followed by household and personal care products with 12 and eight percent, respectively. One of the solutions that the researchers have in mind to minimize producing plastic waste is the banning of single-use plastic. The researchers envision their campus free from single-use plastic and free from its harmful effects on […]

Autoethnography Example: a Personal Journey of Beach Cleanups Across Generations

About a year ago, a group of my friends and myself would go to the beach frequently. We would go just about every weekend. Before settling in and having a good time, we would walk up and down the shore of the beach. We would play a game involving trash that we found on the beach. The game was simple. Whoever found the least amount of trash in 20 minutes would have to run as fast as possible into the […]

The Influence of Ocean Exploration on Perceptions of External Control

The concept of an external locus of control, where individuals attribute their experiences and outcomes to forces beyond their personal influence, can be uniquely examined through the lens of ocean exploration. The vast, mysterious, and often unpredictable nature of the ocean provides a rich metaphor for understanding how external factors shape human perceptions and behaviors. By delving into the dynamics of ocean exploration, we can gain deeper insights into how external forces influence our beliefs and actions. Ocean exploration, much […]

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How To Write an Essay About Ocean Pollution

Understanding ocean pollution.

Before starting an essay about ocean pollution, it's essential to understand its causes, effects, and the current state of our oceans. Ocean pollution refers to the contamination of the oceans with harmful or potentially harmful materials, like plastic waste, chemicals, and untreated sewage. Begin your essay by outlining the major sources of ocean pollution, which include land-based sources like agricultural runoff, industrial discharges, and coastal activities, as well as ocean-based sources like oil spills and marine debris. Discuss the extent of the problem, highlighting key statistics and studies that reveal the severity of ocean pollution and its impact on marine ecosystems, wildlife, and human health.

Developing a Thesis Statement

A strong essay on ocean pollution should be anchored by a clear, focused thesis statement. This statement should present a specific viewpoint or argument about ocean pollution. For instance, you might discuss the long-term ecological impacts of plastic pollution, analyze the effectiveness of current policies and regulations in reducing ocean pollution, or argue for a specific approach or solution to tackle this global issue. Your thesis will guide the direction of your essay and provide a structured approach to your analysis.

Gathering Supporting Evidence

Support your thesis with relevant data, research findings, and examples. This might include scientific studies on the effects of pollution on marine life, reports from environmental organizations, and examples of successful initiatives to reduce ocean pollution. Use this evidence to support your thesis and build a persuasive argument. Be sure to consider different perspectives and address potential counterarguments to your thesis.

Analyzing the Impact of Ocean Pollution

Dedicate a section of your essay to analyzing the impact of ocean pollution. Discuss various aspects such as its effects on marine biodiversity, the disruption of food chains, the impact on coastal communities, and economic consequences. Explore both the immediate and long-term effects of pollution on the ocean environment and the challenges in mitigating these impacts.

Concluding the Essay

Conclude your essay by summarizing the main points of your discussion and restating your thesis in light of the evidence provided. Your conclusion should tie together your analysis and emphasize the significance of addressing ocean pollution for the health of our planet. You might also want to suggest areas for future research, policy development, or public action to combat ocean pollution.

Reviewing and Refining Your Essay

After completing your essay, review and refine it for clarity and coherence. Ensure that your arguments are well-structured and supported by evidence. Check for grammatical accuracy and ensure that your essay flows logically from one point to the next. Consider seeking feedback from peers, educators, or environmental experts to further improve your essay. A well-written essay on ocean pollution will not only demonstrate your understanding of the issue but also your ability to engage with and analyze complex environmental challenges.

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• Published: 19 March 2021

Microplastic pollution in seawater and marine organisms across the Tropical Eastern Pacific and Galápagos

• Alonzo Alfaro-Núñez 1 , 2 ,
• Diana Astorga 3 ,
• Lenin Cáceres-Farías 4 , 5 ,
• Lisandra Bastidas 6 ,
• Cynthia Soto Villegas 6 ,
• Kewrin Macay 6 &
• Jan H. Christensen 7  

Scientific Reports volume  11 , Article number:  6424 ( 2021 ) Cite this article

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• Endocrinology
• Environmental sciences
• Nanotoxicology
• Natural hazards
• Ocean sciences
• Risk factors
• Signs and symptoms
• Techniques and instrumentation

An Author Correction to this article was published on 25 February 2022

This article has been updated

Detection of plastic debris degrading into micro particles across all oceanic environments and inside of marine organisms is no longer surprising news. Microplastic contamination now appears as one of the world’s environmental main concerns. To determine the levels of microplastic pollution at sea, water samples were collected across a 4000 km-trajectory in the Tropical Eastern Pacific and the Galápagos archipelago, covering an area of 453,000 square kilometres. Furthermore, 240 specimens of 16 different species of fish, squid, and shrimp, all of human consumption, were collected along the continental coast. Microplastic particles were found in 100% of the water samples and marine organisms. Microplastic particles ranging from 150 to 500 µm in size were the most predominant. This is one of the first reports simultaneously detecting and quantifying microplastic particles abundance and their impact on marine organisms of this region.

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Introduction.

Plastics of all sizes have become the most dominant form of marine litter and it has been estimated that at least 5.25 trillion plastic particles weighing above 268,000 tons have been discarded into the Oceans 1 . Moreover, according to the 2017 United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEP) an estimate of 4.8–12.7 million metric tons of plastic are introduced to the oceans annually 2 . The low cost, lightweight, strength and durability of plastics are properties that make them suitable for manufacture on a wide range of daily use products. Virtually everything is made of plastic nowadays. However, the high demand and inappropriate disposal of plastic materials have led to their dispersion and accumulation into the environment 3 . For example, during the current COVID-19 pandemic the worldwide production and disposal of face masks as well as other plastic laboratory and medical materials have drastically increased, adding to the vast plastic and microplastic waste in the environment 4 . Furthermore, the UNEP in its fourth meeting last November 2020 reported that nearly 90 million plastic medical masks are required every month through the still on-going COVID-19, creating a new challenge for the marine plastic litter 5 . Accordingly to current trends, the total plastic produced is estimated to rise by 33 billion tons by 2050 6 , 7 .

The most important sources of plastic pollution in oceanic environments are coastal cities, ports, shipping activities, coastal landfills and coastal dumping sites 8 , 9 . Once plastic debris go into the ocean, they break down into microplastics by photolytic, mechanical and biological degradation 10 . Several studies on plastic size abundance and distribution have shown a permanent fragmentation of microplastic from larger to smaller, to nanoplastics (< 25 µm), occurring continuously in the oceans 8 , 11 . One of the main concerns about the smaller fraction of plastic particles is the risk potential for filter feeders, which tend to confuse it for plankton and end up consuming plastic debris 12 , 13 , 14 .

Microplastics ingestion has been reported in a wide range of marine organisms from different trophic levels. The increasing scientific evidence that marine organisms of human consumption ingest microplastics directly from the seawater or from lower trophic levels 8 , 14 , confirms that these microplastic particles have infiltrated the marine ecosystem and are currently be underestimated 15 . Plastic debris either float through the seawater column or sink when they become covered in biofilm, and settle into the sediments 6 , 16 . Plastic particles of all range sizes not only contain additives but also other anthropogenic contaminants, such as organic chemicals that are adsorbed from surrounding seawater 7 , 17 . These pollutants include persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic substances (PBTs), such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dioxins. Due to the pollutants’ hydrophobicity, these contaminants have greater affinity for plastics than seawater and natural sediments 18 . Microplastics particles appear to act as carriers of these contaminants to wildlife. When ingested by marine organisms, PBTs can be released to digestive fluid and can be transferred to the tissues 19 . These chemicals can infiltrate into cells, react with important biomolecules and cause endocrine disruption 20 . In addition, plastics not only have the potential to transport contaminants, but they can also increase their environmental persistence 3 .

Laboratory experiments have showed the potential of microplastics to be transferred via planktonic organisms from one trophic level to a higher level 10 , 21 . This may be due to particle size range analysed, which was limited to microplastic > 150 µm, and the nanometre range has proven to have greater capacity for tissue translocation 3 , 22 . Accumulation of plastic micro-particles in lower trophic levels could lead to a domino effect in marine food webs 23 , 24 , affecting ultimately humans. This highlights the importance of plastics as a source of contaminants of emerging concern for environmental and human health.

Historically, plastic debris have been reported and documented at higher density in the Northern Hemisphere oceanic basins when compared to the Southern regions 25 , 26 . The highest concentrations of plastic debris reported until now are found in the central areas of the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans 27 , 28 . However, there is a clear lack of studies in many oceanic basin regions where data on plastic debris remain unknown. Additionally, oceanic circulation models suggest that all five subtropical ocean gyres act as convergent zones by Ekman currents making them the most likely accumulation regions 29 . As surface ocean currents are spatial and temporal variables, the highest concentrations of plastic debris are constantly fluctuating. However, there is limited available data on the sources and dispersion of plastic litter along the Tropical South American coast and the Galápagos archipelago 30 .

While there is limited data on the Tropical Eastern Pacific and around the multiple archipelagos of this region, there is no reason to expect that these zones remain unaffected by microplastics pollution. Thus, this study had as a goal the detection and quantification of microplastic in oceanic surface water, and marine organism of human consumption. Moreover, by using spatial design interpolation models based on marine oceanic currents, we attempted to measure the distribution and concentrations of microplastics within the study zone.

Materials and methods

Sampling and processing of water samples.

A 25 day-expedition took place on-board the Orion vessel in October 2017, sailing across the Tropical Eastern Pacific and Galápagos archipelago covering an approximated area of 453,000 square-kilometres. The route included a 4000 km-trajectory with 40 sampling stations (see Supplementary S1 for geospatial location points). Environmental water samples were collected under permit # MAE-DNB-CM-2016-0045 in collaboration with the National Institute of Biodiversity granted by the local Ecuadorian Ministry of Environment and Water.

In order to collect the oceanic water samples, two plankton nets with a 60 cm-diameter, 3 m-length, and 150 μm- and 500 μm pore size, respectively, were used. Both nets were simultaneously launched at a distance of 30 m from the stern of the ship in order to prevent any oil or litter contamination from the main vessel. The nets were superficially dragged for a period of 5 min at each station, with a speed of 2 knots (3.70 km/h). A rough calculation using the volume flow rate formula (Q = [A × s] × t; where Q = volume flow rate, A = area, s = speed or velocity, and t = dragging time) allows estimating that, on average, at least 550,000 L (550 m 3 ) of seawater were filtrated at each station. Then, the nets were picked up using a pot line hauler and washed employing a high-pressure seawater hose to collect all organic and inorganic matter into the top end of each net. Later, the content of the top end was transferred to a 500 mL glass flask, preserved in 70% ethanol and stored for further analysis. At each station, 500 mL water control samples were taken from the tube hose from ocean water pumped into the water circulation system to confirm this was not a potential source of microplastic particles contamination.

Between stations, the nets were thoroughly rinsed with ultrapure water to get rid of any residues and were let to dry to guarantee and avoid cross-contamination between samples. Back in the lab, the samples were sifted, using distilled water, into a filtration system consisting of a Glenammer sediment testing set (5000, 1000, 750, 500 and 150 μm). All the organic and inorganic particles that were trapped in test sieves were inspected and separated. Microplastic particles were classified into category sizes. Four categories for the 150 μm-plankton net: 150–500, 501–750, 751–1000 and 1001–5000 μm; and three categories for the 500 μm-plankton net: 500–750, 751–1000, and 1001–5000 μm, which were counted under a stereomicroscope. Organic particles were kept separately for further inspection of ichthyoplankton and copepods. All remaining organic and inorganic material after the last filtration with the lowest diameter test sieve (150 μm) were treated with 30%-hydrogen peroxide to get rid of organic matter 31 , and were then further filtered in a vacuum system employing 100 μm microcellulose filters (Whatman). The remaining water was stored in cold at 4 °C for any future potential analysis with more sensitive and precise technology into nanoparticles. The entire system was rinsed with ultrapure water and 70% ethanol between each sample filtration to avoid cross-contamination. Extreme care was taken to not contaminate the samples by keeping the filtration system covered and washing the transfer apparatus with ultrapure water and 70% ethanol multiple times. All washing and purification solutions were filtered through to minimize any sample loss due to adhesion of microplastics on the wall of any part of the filter apparatus. The microplastic isolation was repeated three times for each sample to ensure recovery.

The microcellulose filters were inspected in an AmScope trinocular stereoscope with digital camera, and visual counting of microplastic particles and fibres was done using millimetric background glass filter especially designed for this purpose (Petroff–Hausser counters). Filters were then inspected and a microplastic particle counting was done using a BX53 Olympus microscope. Additionally, presence of the microplastic fibres and particles were confirmed by using UV-light lamps implemented in the same microscope instrument.

Sampling and processing of marine organisms

To analyse plastic presence in marine organisms of human consumption, 15 specimens of each of the 16 different species collected, including molluscs, fish and crustaceans were bought across the most representative market ports in all four provinces (El Oro, Santa Elena, Manabí and Esmeraldas) evaluated in the Pacific coast of Ecuador (see Supplementary S1 ), under the same permit mentioned above. They were preserved frozen at – 20 °C. Samples were then dissected and tissue from the digestive tract and the dorsal muscle were investigated for each specimen. The collected samples were analysed in a BX53 Olympus microscope coupled with a microscale to visually quantify the presence of microplastic particles over 200 μm.

For muscle inspection, 0.5 cm 3 -muscle tissue fragments were imbibed in paraffin. These preparations were tanned with hematoxylin and eosin (H–E) technique and cut with a microtome 32 . Tissue slices were then prepared on microscope plates using Entellan resin and inspected for microplastic presence under the BX53 Olympus microscope. The figure presenting the concentrations of microplastic particles in marine organisms was made on Adobe Acrobat DC Pro ( https://acrobat.adobe.com ); organism illustrations were obtained at www.pexels.com (free access and use) and manually adjusted to the figure.

Quantification, statistical analysis and spatial interpolations

Microplastic particles were quantified and total values were determined using counting chambers of 0.2 mm × 0.2 mm centre square cover glass (Petroff–Hausser counters). Data was tabulated including the exact location of each sampling site, date and the total number of microplastic particles per station with each individual net, and by combining the total amounts from both 150 and 500 μm-plankton nets. Data was then exported to Minitab 18.1.0.0 Statistical Software 33 where the one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to identify statistical differences between particles sizes and stations. The mean differences in the groups were evaluated with Fisher's LSD method with a 95% confidence interval.

In order to assess the extent of contamination (microplastics presence and distribution), the study area was divided into four zones: (A) Continental waters, (B) International waters, (C) Eastern Galapagos and (D) Western Galápagos, within the total of 40 sampled stations. A spatial interpolation analysis was performed in ArcGIS 10.4.1 software 34 for the collected microplastics data with combined values for the two nets. Two tools: the Topo to Raster and the Create Contours tools were mainly used. The Topo to Raster tool available in ArcGIS was used as the interpolation method. An oceanic photograph of free access ( http://www.apollomapping.com/geoeye/satellite ) was used as the first layer for the interpolation. Further layers containing the sampling points and microplastic concentrations data were later on added. A study area around the microplastic sampling locations was defined and used as boundary for the interpolation. The Create Contours tool was then used to create 1-unit (μp/m 3 ) contours from the raster image produced by the interpolation tool.

By using the known concentrations of microplastic particles accounted for the combined net values, with the precise oceanic coordinates (stations), estimated values were determined at the remaining unknown points. The result is an interpolation-contours figure showing a possible scenario of the spatial distribution of the microplastics sampled in the studied area. We assumed that for any microplastic particles measured, their magnitude should be equal or greater than zero (μp/m 3 ). The assumption was used to condition the limits of the interpolation method, so the produced raster image contains only numbers equal to or greater than zero.

Seawater samples

Microplastic particles were detected in 100% of the collected samples from the 40 stations across the 4000 km trajectory expedition. Moreover, microplastic particles in all size ranges were observed in 100% of the filtered samples analysed (see Fig.  1 and Supplementary S2 ).

Spatial interpolation of the microplastic particle concentrations in the study area. Using the known values of microplastic particles concentrations determined (µp/m 3 ), combining both 150 and 500 µm-plankton nets at the precise oceanic stations, estimate concentration values are determined at the remaining unknown spatial points. The Southeast and Northwest presented the lowest microplastics concentration, which was coloured in blue. The highest microplastic concentration was observed in international waters in the central to southern part of the study area coloured in red, potentially associated with ocean circulation patterns.

The highest concentration (μp/m 3 ) by particles size collected with the 150 μm-plankton net was observed for the smallest category (150–500 µm). This category concentrated 71% of the microplastic particles with 0.15 ± 0.05 (mean ± s.d., respectively) with a significant difference ( p  < 0.001) for the three size ranges. The second highest microplastic concentration was found in the category of 501–750 µm, with a 15% (0.03 ± 0.02). The range of particles within 751–1000 µm concentrated a 6% (0.01 ± 0.01). The largest particle size range (1001–5000 µm) had an overall 8% concentration of the particles per station (0.02 ± 0.01).

As for the second 500 μm-plankton net, the highest concentration by particle size was also observed for the smallest category (500–750 µm) in its class, which concentrated 45% of the particles (0.03 ± 0.01). The second highest concentration of microplastics was found in the 751–1000 µm category, with 22% prevalence (0.01 ± 0.01). The largest particle size range (1000–5000 µm) presented a 33% prevalence (0.02 ± 0.01). Furthermore, a high significant difference was detected between the three categories ( p  <  0.01 ), confirming the vast amount of microplastic particles detected in the size 500–750 µm when compared with the other two larger sizes (see Supplementary S2 ).

Plastic concentrations were also quantified by zones. Stations within continental waters had 0.26 ± 0.08, international waters stations 0.36 ± 0.10, while 0.24 ± 0.09 and 0.22 ± 0.08 were registered for Eastern and Western Galápagos stations, respectively in μp/m 3 . Highest concentrations were detected within international waters. The one-way ANOVA test (see Supplementary S3 ) revealed a statistically significant difference between the four sub-regional zones ( p  < 0.01).

Microplastics appeared mostly in the form of plastic fibres (see Fig.  2 ), which were found in all collected samples. As mentioned above, the largest concentration of microplastic particles was found in international waters at the station 20 (see Supplementary S3 and Fig.  1 ).

Microplastic fibres and particles under the microscope. Each of the filters collected was inspected and investigated under the microscope to quantify the amount of microplastic fibres and particles. Most polymers, the main structural molecular blocks of plastics, tend to shine under the ultraviolet light (UV-light), which was done using a BX53 Olympus microscope.

Marine organisms

A total of 16 species were analysed and clustered by their feeding behaviour, finding the highest microplastic prevalence in carnivorous species, while animals that feed from dead organic matter (detritivore species) were found with the lowest. We investigated microplastic particles in the digestive tracts and muscle tissue of 240 marine organisms of human consumption including fish (210 specimens: 15 of each of 14 species), cephalopod molluscs (15 specimens of one species) and crustaceans (15 specimens of one species). Plastic fragments over 200 μm were detected in the digestive tract of 166 out of 240 specimens (69%) from the 16 different species analysed. Microplastics were found in 149 (71%) of 210 fish from the 14 different species (see Fig.  3 ). In overall, 77% of the carnivorous species presented microplastic pieces in their digestive tract, followed by planktivorous (63%) and detritivore (20%). No plastic was found in muscle tissues.

Prevalence of microplastic particles in the digestive track of marine species. Microplastic particles found in 16 different marine species of human consumption that were bought in the most representative ports in all four provinces (Manabí, El Oro, Esmeraldas and Santa Elena) in the Pacific coast of Ecuador were quantified. Marine organisms were categorized by their feeding behaviour: carnivorous, planktivory, and detritivore. Fifteen specimens (n = 15) were taken per each of the 16 species analysed.

Spatial interpolations

The graph (see Fig.  1 ) indicates that the regions in the Southeast (82° longitude) near the continental coast (0.26 ± 0.10) and Northwest (92° longitude) in the Galápagos (0.22 ± 0.09) presented the lowest microplastics concentration, with the addition of a small region in between islands (stations E22–E27). The highest microplastic concentration was observed in international waters (0.36 ± 0.09) in the central to southern part (stations E11–E20) with the highest recorded concentration of the study area at station E20 with a 0.51 μp/m 3 .

Microplastic particles in ocean water

Plastic pollution in the oceans is directly correlated with this material being robust and durable, which is linked to the high amounts of plastics produced, used and easily discarded 1 , 35 . Microplastic fragments have been found in sedimentary habitats, shores, pelagic zones 7 , 36 , deep sea 37 and in living organisms 38 , including humans 14 . Worldwide production and uncontrolled disposal of face masks and many other medical-health supplies have dramatically increased during the current COVID-19 pandemic, creating a vast new challenge for plastic litter entering the environment. While governments and international organizations work together to find solutions to reduce the amount of all residual plastic waste, delaying action by 5 years could increase plastic pollution in the oceans by around 80 million metric tons 5 .

In our study, microplastic particles in all the four range sizes analysed (150–500, 501–750, 751–1000 and 1001–5000 µm) had a 100% prevalence across all stations (see Supplementary S2 ). The size distribution of plastic particles in the seawater samples showed that the smallest size class, between 150 and 500 µm, is more abundant than the larger sizes. Other authors have also reported that smaller microplastic sizes abundance is a common characteristic result of the plastic size distribution among the oceans 19 , 39 . In addition, several studies on microplastic size abundance and distribution have shown a permanent fragmentation of microplastic from larger to smaller, to even into nanoplastic (< 25 µm), occurring continuously in the oceans 8 , and in all aquatic environments 16 . The main global concern about the predominance of this size class is its risk potential for filter feeders, which tend to confuse it for plankton and end up consuming plastic debris 14 . Further analytical chemistry characterization of the polymers type and POP’s present in the samples at each station, was originally intended in this study to cover the smaller fraction and nanoplastic molecular classification. Nevertheless, molecular oil residues were detected to cause contamination in the samples, which unable this analysis to be implemented to confirm the characterization of polymers and POP’s.

Interpolation of microplastic concentrations

Oceanic circulation models suggest the highest concentrations of plastic debris are accumulated along the five main subtropical ocean gyres defined as convergent zones by the Ekman currents 25 , 40 . As such, ocean currents play a major role in the origin source, transportation, distribution and accumulation of plastic debris around the world. In our study area, several station points were detected with large concentrations of microplastic particles mostly in the central to southern part of the study area, which were outside the local small gyres present (see Fig.  1 ). These findings are coherent with basin-scale microplastic particles transport that explain sources and pathways of microplastic that end up in the Galápagos Archipelago 30 from far South oceanic basins. However, Costa Rica and other countries farther north can be considered as plastic particle origin sources if simulations are not limited to surface currents.

Plastic transport may also depend on the sinking processes that plastic particles undergo when they reach the ocean 6 , 28 . Microplastics show different buoyancy characteristics depending on the plastic polymers and additives they are made of 41 . Around 60% of all plastic items produced are less dense than seawater 3 . Biofouling and other interactions with marine biota, degradation, fragmentation or additives leaching may accelerate the sinking process of derived plastic particles 30 . The impact of microplastics in the marine environments, however, depends on physical behaviours (migration, sedimentation and accumulation), chemical behaviours (degradation and adsorption) and bio-behaviours (ingestion, translocation and biodegradation) 18 . Still, trawl sampling efforts coupled with vessel-based sighting surveys confirm that available data on quantities and characteristics of buoyant plastic particles in the nanoplastic range represent only 13% of the available buoyant plastic mass 1 . Therefore, new insights have coupled measured concentrations of ocean plastic of different sizes and types, dispersal models, geo-referenced imaginary and seasonal and intern annual changes to improve the estimations of plastic debris in the upper water column 7 .

The Galápagos archipelago and its Marine Reserve lay 1000 km off the coast of the South American coastline and are among the most emblematic wildlife refuges in the world. However, plastic litter and microplastic residues have recently been found even in this isolate group of islands and around its waters. To our knowledge, prior to this study, the levels of this microplastic contamination and its quantification on Galápagos coastlines and across the Eastern Tropical Pacific were barely known and limited to one single study 30 .

Microplastic in marine organism of human consumption

Plastic particles in the digestive systems of many species of fish and other marine organisms consumable by humans have been reported and quantified 23 , 42 . Recent studies on plastic size abundance and distribution have shown a continuous fragmentation of microplastic into nanoplastic occurring constantly in the oceans by marine organisms ingesting microplastics and bio-accumulating these particles in their stomachs 2 , 3 .

In the present study, microplastic contamination and consumption by marine organisms were reported through the quantification of microplastic particles in the digestive tract of 240 marine organisms of human consumption including fish, cephalopod molluscs and crustaceans (see Fig.  3 ). Microplastic fragments were detected in 166 out of 240 specimens (69%) from the 16 different species analysed. Moreover, microplastic particles were found in 149 (71%) of 210 fish from 14 different species (in at least eight specimens for each of all fish species analysed). This value is higher than those previously reported 43 , which allows to conclude that microplastic debris in the form of fish feed, may accumulate over time and space. We suspect that this value may have considerably increased during the last year (2020-2021) as a direct consequence of the massive plastic litter produced and discarded into the environment through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Among all different species analysed in this work, 77% of the carnivorous species presented microplastic pieces in their digestive tract, followed by planktivorous (63%) and detritivores (20%). As previously stated, contamination of microplastic particles of all sizes in the Oceans are easily mistaken with food by marine organisms, especially when they overlap with the size range of their prey 9 . From the total 16 examined species, Dosidicus gigas, commonly known as giant squid, reached 93% microplastic prevalence in its digestive tract. It was followed by Alopias pelagicus and Coryphaena hippurus with 87% prevalence each. All three are carnivorous species. In a previous study, plastic ingestion in carnivorous species of fish 42 ranged from < 1 to 58%. The 77% obtained in our research breaks the normal parameters, showing that tropical Pacific Equator coast has worrying high levels of microplastic pollution in comparison with reports from other Pacific oceanic basins.

On the other hand, planktivorous species are thought to develop mechanisms to avoid consuming microplastic particles 44 , 45 . It has been suggested that planktivorous fish species may have a low risk of plastic ingestion in superficial waters 27 . Yet, the 63% prevalence in planktivorous fish analysed in the present work is considerably high when compared to the 5% prevalence found from a previous study 26 .

In spite of scientific evidence of plastic entrance to different tissues than those related to the digestive tract 41 , 46 , no plastic was found in the muscle tissue from the 240 marine organisms examined in this study. This may be due to particle size range analysed, which was limited to microplastic > 150 µm, and the nanometre range has proven to have greater capacity for tissue translocation 3 , 22 . As briefly mentioned above, our research originally planned to do an analytical chemistry characterization of the type polymers and POP’s present in the samples at each station. Special filter samples were simultaneously collected at each station for this purpose. However, molecular oil residues contamination was detected in all analysed samples in the lab, which unable to achieve this complementary part of the study and thus, this entire section was excluded from the manuscript. As of today, the cause of the oil contamination remains unknown.

To the best of our knowledge, this is one of the first systematic reports visually quantifying microplastic abundance and modelling its distribution across a section of the Tropical Eastern Pacific and around the Galápagos archipelago. Finally, this is also the first time that microplastic particles are detected and quantified in marine organisms of human consumption in this region.

Change history

12 january 2023.

The original online version of this Article was revised: In the original version of this Article, the year of collection of samples was incorrectly given as October 2018 and it should be read as October 2017 in the Materials and Methods, under the subheading ‘Sampling and processing of water samples’. The original Article has been corrected.

25 February 2022

A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-07504-w

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Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the collaboration and support of Rafael Bermudez, Allan Jeffs, Anders Johannes Hansen, Philip Francis Thomsen, Anders Fomsgaard, Claus Nielsen and Spiros Agathos with logistics that made this research study possible. Our big gratitude to the Orion’s crew, to the students Cesar Añazco and Rodrigo Chiriboga-Ortega, and finally to captain Juan Carlos Tapia. Finally, thank you to the Oceanographic Institute of the Ecuadorian Navy, to the Galápagos Marine Reserve, to the National Institute of Biodiversity and the Ecuadorian Ministry of Environment and Water for their support with permits granted.

This research study was partially supported by the Red CEDIA [Grant number CEPRA XII-02-18, MICROPLASTICOS].

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A.A.N.: Conceptualization, methodology, investigation, data curation, writing—original draft, visualization, supervision, project administration and funding acquisition. L.C.F., L.B., C.S.V. and K.M.: Software, formal statistical analysis, interpolation and spatial modelling and validation. D.A. and J.H.C.: Project administration, writing—review & editing, project administration.

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Alfaro-Núñez, A., Astorga, D., Cáceres-Farías, L. et al. Microplastic pollution in seawater and marine organisms across the Tropical Eastern Pacific and Galápagos. Sci Rep 11 , 6424 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-85939-3

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In the age of the Anthropocene, the ocean has typically been viewed as a sink for pollution. Pollution is varied, ranging from human-made plastics and pharmaceutical compounds, to human-altered abiotic factors, such as sediment and nutrient runoff. As global population, wealth and resource consumption continue to grow, so too does the amount of potential pollution produced. This presents us with a grand challenge which requires interdisciplinary knowledge to solve. There is sufficient data on the human health, social, economic, and environmental risks of marine pollution, resulting in increased awareness and motivation to address this global challenge, however a significant lag exists when implementing strategies to address this issue. This review draws upon the expertise of 17 experts from the fields of social sciences, marine science, visual arts, and Traditional and First Nations Knowledge Holders to present two futures; the Business-As-Usual, based on current trends and observations of growing marine pollution, and a More Sustainable Future, which imagines what our ocean could look like if we implemented current knowledge and technologies. We identify priority actions that governments, industry and consumers can implement at pollution sources, vectors and sinks, over the next decade to reduce marine pollution and steer us towards the More Sustainable Future.

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Pollution in Marine Ecosystem: Impact and Prevention

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Leveraging Multi-target Strategies to Address Plastic Pollution in the Context of an Already Stressed Ocean

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Introduction

The ocean has historically been a sink for pollution, leaving modern society with significant ocean pollution legacy issues to manage (Elliott and Elliott 2013 ; O'Shea et al. 2018 ). People continue to pollute the ocean at increasing rates creating further damage to marine ecosystems. This results in detrimental impacts on livelihoods, food security, marine navigation, wildlife and well-being, among others (Krushelnytska 2018 ; Lebreton and Andrady 2019 ; Nichols 2014 ; Seitzinger et al. 2002 ). As pollution presents a multitude of stressors for ocean life, it cannot be explored in isolation (Khan et al., 2018 ). Thus, global coordinated efforts are essential to manage the current and future state of the ocean and to minimise further damage from pollution (Krushelnytska 2018 ; Macleod et al. 2016 ; O'Brien et al. 2019 ; Williams et al. 2015 ). Efforts are also needed to tackle key questions, such as how do pollutants function in different environments, and interact with each other?

Pollution can be broadly defined as any natural or human-derived substance or energy that is introduced into the environment by humans and that can have a detrimental effect on living organisms and natural environments (UNEP 1982 ). Pollutants, including light and sound in addition to the more commonly recognised forms, can enter the marine environment from a multitude of sources and transport mechanisms (Carroll et al. 2017 ; Depledge et al. 2010 ; Longcore and Rich 2004 ; Williams et al. 2015 ). These may include long range atmospheric movement (Amunsen et al. 1992 ) and transport from inland waterways (Lebreton et al. 2017 ).

Current pollutant concentrations in the marine environment are expected to continue increasing with growth in both global population and product production. For example, global plastic production increased by 13 million tonnes in a single year (PlasticsEurope 2018 ), with rising oceanic plastic linked to such trends (Wilcox et al. 2020 ). Pharmaceutical pollution is predicted to increase with population growth, resulting in a greater range of chemicals entering the ocean through stormwater drains and rivers (Bernhardt et al. 2017 ; Rzymski et al. 2017 ). Additionally, each year new chemical compounds are produced whose impacts on the marine environment are untested (Landrigan et al. 2018 ).

Marine pollution harms organisms throughout the food-web in diverse ways. Trace amounts of heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in organisms have the capacity to cause physiological harm (Capaldo et al. 2018 ; Hoffman et al. 2011 ; Salamat et al. 2014 ) and alter behaviours (Brodin et al. 2014 ; Mattsson et al. 2017 ). Artificial lights along coasts at night can disrupt organism navigation, predation and vertical migration (Depledge et al. 2010 ). Pharmaceutical pollutants, such as contraceptive drugs, have induced reproductive failure and sex changes in a range of fish species (Lange et al. 2011 ; Nash et al. 2004 ). Furthermore, some pollutants also have the capacity to bioaccumulate, which means they may become more concentrated in higher trophic marine species (Bustamante et al. 1998 ; Eagles-Smith et al. 2009 ).

Pollution also poses a huge economic risk. Typically, the majority of consequences from pollution disproportionately impact poorer nations who have less resources to manage and remediate these impacts (Alario and Freudenburg 2010 ; Beaumont et al. 2019 ; Golden et al. 2016 ; Landrigan et al. 2018 ). Marine pollution can negatively impact coastal tourism (Jang et al. 2014 ), waterfront real estate (Ofiara and Seneca 2006 ), shipping (Moore 2018 ) and fisheries (Hong et al. 2017 ; Uhrin 2016 ). Contamination of seafood poses a perceived risk to human health, but also results in a significant financial cost for producers and communities (Ofiara and Seneca 2006 ; White et al. 2000 ). Additionally, current remediation strategies for most pollutants in marine and coastal ecosystems are costly, time consuming and may not prove viable in global contexts (Ryan and Jewitt 1996 ; Smith et al. 1997 ; Uhrin 2016 ).

Reducing marine pollution is a global challenge that needs to be addressed for the health of the ocean and the communities and industries it supports. The United Nations proposed and adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) designed to guide future developments and intended to be achieved by 2030. It has flagged the reduction of marine pollution as a key issue underpinning the achievement of SDG 14, Life Under Water, with target 14.1 defined as “prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, in particular from land-based activities, including marine debris and nutrient pollution” by 2025 (United Nations General Assembly 2015 ). In the UN Decade of Ocean Science (2021–2030), one of the six ocean outcomes relates specifically to the identification and reduction of marine pollution (A Clean Ocean; UN DOS SD). The task of reducing marine pollution is daunting—the ocean is so vast that cleaning it seems almost impossible. However, effective management of pollution at its source is a successful way to reduce it and protect the ocean (DeGeorges et al. 2010 ; Rochman 2016 ; Simmonds et al. 2014 ; Zhu et al. 2008 ). Strategies, implemented locally, nationally and globally, to prevent, or considerably reduce pollution inputs in combination with removing pollutants from the marine environment (Sherman and van Sebille 2016 ) will allow healthy ocean life and processes to continue into the future. However, such strategies need to be implemented on a collective global scale, and target pollution at key intervals from their creation to their use and disposal.

To help explain how society can most effectively address pollution sources and clean the ocean, we depict two different future seas scenarios by 2030. The first is a Business-As-Usual scenario, where society continues to adhere to current management and global trends. The second is a technically achievable, more sustainable future that is congruent with the SDGs, and where society actively take actions and adopt sustainable solutions. We then explore pollution in three ‘zones’ of action; at the source(s), along the way, and at sink, in the context of river or estuarine systems, as water-transported pollution is commonly associated with urban centres alongside river systems (Alongi and McKinnon 2005 ; Lebreton et al. 2017 ; Lohmann et al. 2012 ; Seitzinger and Mayorga 2016 ).

As a group of interdisciplinary scientists, with expertise in marine pollution, we participated in the Future Seas project ( www.FutureSeas2030.org ), which identified marine pollution as one of 12 grand challenges, and followed the method outlined in Nash et al. ( 2021 ). The process involved a structured discussion to explore the direction of marine social-ecological systems over the course of the UN Decade of Ocean Science, specific to marine pollution. The discussion resulted in developing two alternate future scenarios of marine pollution, a ‘Business-As-Usual’ future that is the current trajectory based on published evidence, and a ‘more sustainable’ future that is technically achievable using existing and emerging knowledge and is consistent with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. To ensure a wide range of world views were present in the future scenarios, Indigenous Leaders and Traditional Knowledge Holders from around the world came together and presented their views, experiences and identified their priorities to remove and reduce marine pollution (Nash et al. 2021 ; Fischer et al. 2020 ).

We defined the scope of our paper by identifying key pollutant sources, types and drivers of marine pollution (Table 1 for pollutant sources and types; see " Future Narratives " below). We then developed a list of feasible actions that could drive the current state of the ocean towards a cleaner, more sustainable future (Supplementary Table 1). From these actions we deliberated as a group and identified ten actions that have high potential to be implemented within the next decade and significantly reduce marine pollution (Fig.  1 ). The linkages between our ten priority actions and the SDGs are outlined in Supplementary Table 2.

source of the pollutant (at the source), once the pollutant is released (along the way), once the pollutant has entered the ocean (at the sink) or at multiple points along the system (bottom arrow). * indicates actions that could be successfully implemented well before the next decade to significantly reduce pollution

Ten actions that can substantially reduce the amount of pollution entering the marine environment. Actions are placed along the system where they could have the greatest impact at reducing pollution: at the

Future narratives

We identified three broad sources of marine pollution: land-based industry, sea-based industry, and municipal-based sources and the most significant types of pollution characteristic of each source (Table 1 ). We framed our two contrasting future scenarios (Business-As-Usual and a technically feasible sustainable future), around these pollutants and their sources (Table 2 ). In addition to these future narratives, we reflect on the present impacts that pollution is currently having on the livelihoods and cultures of First Nations peoples and Traditional Knowledge Holders. We include the narratives of the palawa pakana people, from lutruwita/Tasmania (Table 3 ), and the Greenlandic Inuit people (Table 4 ).

We identified three key drivers that will substantially contribute to an increasingly polluted ocean if no actions are taken to intervene; societal behaviours, equity and access to technologies, and governance and policy. Alternatively, these pollution drivers can be viewed as opportunities to implement strategic measures that shift the trajectory from a polluted marine environment to a healthier marine environment. Below we highlight how current societal behaviours, lack of implementation of technological advancements, and ocean governance and policy making contribute to an increasingly polluted ocean and drive society towards a BAU future (Table 2 ). Importantly, we discuss how changes in these behaviours, and improvements in technologies and governance can lead to reduced marine pollution, ultimately driving a cleaner, more sustainable ocean for the future.

Societal behaviour

Societal behaviours that drive increasing pollution in the world’s ocean.

A consumer culture that prioritizes linear production and consumption of cheap, single-use materials and products over circular product design and use (such as, reusable products or products that are made from recycled material), ultimately drives the increased creation of materials. Current production culture is often aligned with little consideration for the socioeconomic and environmental externalities associated with the pollution that is generated from a product’s creation to its disposal (Foltete et al. 2011 ; Schnurr et al. 2018 ). Without a dedicated management strategy for the fate of products after they have met their varying, often single-use objectives, these materials will enter and accumulate in the surrounding environment as pollution (Krushelnytska 2018 ; Sun et al. 2012 ). Three examples of unsustainable social behaviours that lead to products and materials ending up as marine pollution are: (1) the design and creation of products that are inherently polluting. For example, agricultural chemicals or microplastics and chemicals in personal care and cosmetic products. (2) social behaviours that normalize and encourage consumption of single-use products and materials. For example, individually wrapped vegetables or take-away food containers. (3) low awareness of the impacts and consequences and therefore the normalization of polluting behaviours. For example, noise generation by ships at sea (Hildebrand 2009 ) or the large application of fertilizers to agricultural products (Sun et al. 2012 ).

Shifting societal behaviours towards sustainable production and consumption

A cleaner ocean with reduced pollution will require a shift in production practices across a wide array of industries, as well as a shift in consumer behaviour. Presently, consumers and industry alike are seeking science-based information to inform decision making (Englehardt 1994 ; Vergragt et al. 2016 ). Consumers have the power to demand change from industries through purchasing power and social license to operate (Saeed et al. 2019 ). Policymakers have the power to enforce change from industries through regulations and reporting. Aligning the values between producers, consumers and policymakers will ensure best practices of sustainable consumption and production are adopted (Huntington 2017 ; Moktadir et al. 2018 ; Mont and Plepys 2008 ). Improved understanding of the full life cycle of costs, consequences (including internalised externalities, such as the polluter-pays-principle (Schwartz 2018 )), materials used, and pollution potential of products could substantially shift the trajectory in both production and consumerism towards cleaner, more sustainable seas (Grappi et al. 2017 ; Liu et al. 2016 ; Lorek and Spangenberg 2014 ; Sun et al. 2012 ). For example, economic policy instruments (Abbott and Sumaila 2019 ), production transparency (Joakim Larsson and Fick 2009 ), recirculation of materials (Michael 1998 ; Sharma and Henriques 2005 ), and changes in supply-chains (Ouardighi et al. 2016 ) are some of the ways production and consumerism could become more sustainable and result in a cleaner ocean.

Equity and access to technologies

Inequitable access to available technologies.

Despite major advancements in technology and innovation for waste management, much of the current waste infrastructure implemented around the world is outdated, underutilised, or abandoned. This is particularly the case for rapidly developing countries with large populations who have not had access to waste reduction and mitigation technologies and systems employed in upper income countries (Velis 2014 ; Wilson et al. 2015 ). The informal recycling sector (IRS) performs the critical waste management role in many of the world’s most populous countries.

Harnessing technologies for today and the future

Arguably, in today’s world we see an unprecedented number and types of technological advances stemming from but not limited to seismic exploration (Malehmir et al. 2012 ), resource mining (Jennings and Revill 2007 ; Kampmann et al. 2018 ; Parker et al. 2016 ), product movement (Goodchild and Toy 2018 ; Tournadre 2014 ) and product manufacturing (Bennett 2013 ; Mahalik and Nambiar 2010 ). Applying long term vision rather than short term economic gain could include supporting technologies and innovations that provide substantial improvements over Business-As-Usual. For example, supporting businesses or industries that improve recyclability of products (Umeda et al. 2013 ; Yang et al. 2014 ), utilize waste (Korhonen et al. 2018 ; Pan et al. 2015 ), reduce noise (Simmonds et al. 2014 ), and increase overall production efficiency will substantially increase the health of the global ocean. Efforts should be made wherever possible to maintain current waste management infrastructure where proven and effective, in addition to ensuring reliance and durability of new technologies and innovations for improved lifespan and end of life product management. Consumer demand, taxation, and incentives will play a necessary roll to ensure the appropriate technologies are adopted (Ando and Freitas 2011 ; Krass et al. 2013 ).

Governance and policy

Lack of ocean governance and policy making.

The governance arrangements that address marine pollution on global, regional, and national levels are complex and multifaceted. Success requires hard-to-achieve integrated responses. In addition to the equity challenges discussed in Alexander et al. ( 2020 ) which highlight the need for reduced inequity to improve the susatinability of the marine enviornemnt, we highlight that land-based waste is the largest contributor to marine pollution and therefore requires governance and policies that focus on pollution at the source. Current regulations, laws and policies do not always reflect or address the grand challenge of reducing marine pollution at the source. The ocean has traditionally been governed through sectoral approaches such as fisheries, tourism, offshore oil and mining. Unfortunately, this sector approach has caused policy overlap, conflict, inefficiencies and inconsistencies regarding marine pollution governance (Haward 2018 ; Vince and Hardesty 2016 ). Although production, manufacturing, and polluting may largely take place under geo-political boundaries, pollution in the high seas is often hard to assign to a country of origin. This makes identifying and convicting polluters very difficult (Urbina 2019 ). For example, the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL 73/78) has been criticised as ineffective in reducing marine pollution, largely due to the lack of easily monitoring, identifying and convicting offenders (Henderson 2001 ; Mattson 2006 ).

Harnessing ocean governance and policy

Binding domestic policies and international agreements are regulatory levers that can drive change at local, community, state, federal and international scales (Vince and Hardesty 2018 ). The UN Law of the Sea Convention Part XII (articles 192–237) is dedicated to the protection and preservation of the marine environment and marine pollution is addressed in article 194. It also sets out the responsibilities of states and necessary measures they need to undertake to minimise pollution their own and other jurisdictions. While the Law of the Sea recognises the differences between sea-based and land-based pollution, it does not address the type of pollutants and technical rules in detail. Voluntary measures including MARPOL 73/78 (IMO 1978 ), United Nations Environment Assembly resolutions (UNEA 2019 ) and the FAO voluntary guidelines for the marking of fishing gear (FAO 2019 ), already exist in an attempt to reduce specific components of marine pollution. However, the health of marine ecosystems would benefit from multilateral international or regional agreements that minimise the production of items or the use of processes that result in high levels of marine ecosystem harm. For example, international regulation for underwater sound (McCarthy 2004 ), policies to reduce waste emissions (Nie 2012 ) and the polluter pays principle (Gaines 1991 ) are policies and agreements that could minimise pollutants entering the marine ecosystem. Global and regional governance can create a favourable context for national policy action. Policies that adapt to shifts in climate and are guided by science and indigenous knowledge could be more likely to succeed (Ban et al. 2020 ).

Actions to achieve a more sustainable future

The grand challenge of reducing ocean pollution can seem overwhelming. However, there are myriad actions, interventions and activities which are highly feasible to implement within the next decade to rapidly reduce the quantity of pollution entering the ocean. Implementing these actions requires collaboration among policymakers, industry, and consumers alike. To reduce pollution from sea-based industries, land-based industries and municipal-based pollutants (Table 1 ), we encourage the global community to consider three ‘zones’ of action or areas to implement change: at the source(s), along the way/along the supply chain, and at sinks (Fig.  1 ). It is important to highlight that action cannot be implemented at any one zone only. For example, repeated clean ups at the sink may reduce pollution in an area for a time, but will not stem the flow of pollutants. Rather, action at all three zones is required if rapid, effective reductions of ocean pollution are to occur.

Actions at the source(s)

Reducing pollution at its multitude of sources is the most effective way to reduce and prevent marine pollution. This is true for land-based industry pollutants, sea-based industry pollutants and municipal-based pollutants. An example for each includes; reduction in fertilizer leading to less agricultural runoff in coastal waters (Bennett et al. 2001 ), changes in packaging materials may see reductions in production on a per item basis, and a lowered frequency and timing of seismic blasting would result in a decrease in underwater noise pollution at the source. The benefits of acting at the source are powerful: if a pollutant is not developed or used initially, it cannot enter the marine environment. Action can occur at the source using various approaches such as; prevention of contaminants, outreach campaigns, introduction of bans (or prohibitions) and incentives and the replacement of technologies and products for less impactful alternatives (Fig.  1 ). However, achieving public support abrupt and major changes can be difficult and time consuming. Such changes may meet resistance (e.g. stopping or changing seismic testing) and there are other factors beyond marine pollution that must be considered (e.g. health and safety of coastal lighting in communities may be considered more important than impacts of light pollution on nearby marine ecosystems). Actions such as outreach and education campaigns (Supplementary Table 2) will be an important pathway to achieve public support.

Actions along the way

Reducing marine pollution along the way requires implementation of approaches aimed at reducing pollution once it has been released from the source and is in transit to the marine environment (Fig.  1 ). Acting along the way does provide the opportunity to target particular pollutants (point-source pollution) which can be particularly effective in reducing those pollutants. While municipal-based pollutants can be reduced ‘along the way’ using infrastructure such as gross pollutant traps (GPTs) and wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), some pollution such as light or sound may be more difficult to minimize or reduce in such a manner. WWTPs can successfully capture excess nutrients, pharmaceuticals and litter that are transported through sewerage and wastewater systems. However, pollution management ‘ en route ’ means there is both more production and more likelihood of leakage to the environment. In addition, infrastructure that captures pollution is often expensive, requires ongoing maintenance (and hence funding support), and if not managed properly, can become physically blocked, or result in increased risk to human health and the broader environment (e.g. flooding during heavy rainfall events). When considering management opportunities and risks for both land and sea-based pollution, the approaches required may be quite different, yielding unique challenges and opportunities for resolution in each (Alexander et al. 2020 ).

Actions at the sinks

Acting at sinks essentially requires pollution removal (Fig.  1 ). This approach is the most challenging, most expensive, and least likely to yield positive outcomes. The ocean encompasses more than 70% of the earth’s surface and extends to depths beyond ten kilometres. Hence it is a vast area for pollutants to disperse and economically and logistically prohibitive to clean completely. However, in some situations collecting pollutants and cleaning the marine environment is most viable option and there are examples of success. For example, some positive steps to remediate excess nutrients include integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (Buck et al. 2018 ). ‘Net Your Problem’ is a recycling program for fishers to dispose of derelict fishing gear ( www.netyourproblem.com ). Municipal-based and sea-based industry pollutants are often reduced through clean-up events. For example, large oils spills often require community volunteers to remove and clean oil from coastal environments and wildlife. Such activities provide increased awareness of marine pollution issues, and if data are recorded, can provide a baseline or benchmark against which to compare change. To address pollution at sinks requires us to prioritise efforts towards areas with high acclamations of pollution, (e.g., oil spills). Repeated removal or cleaning is unlikely to yield long term results, without managing the pollution upstream –whether along the route or at the source.

To achieve the More Sustainable Future, and significantly reduce pollution (thereby achieving the SGD targets in Supplementary Table 2), society must take ongoing action now and continue this movement beyond 2030. Prioritising the prevention of pollutants from their sources, using bans and incentives, outreach and education, and replacement technologies, is one of the most important steps that can be taken to shift towards a more sustainable future. Without addressing pollution from the source, current and future efforts will continue to remediate rather than mitigate the damage pollution causes to the ocean and organisms within. For pollutants that are not currently feasible to reduce at the source, collection of pollutants before they reach the ocean should be prioritised. For example, wastewater treatment plants and gross pollutant traps located at point-source locations such as stormwater and wastewater drains are feasible methods for reducing pollutants before they reach the ocean. Actions at the sink should target areas where the maximum effort per quantity of pollution can be recovered from the ocean. For example, prompt clean-up responses to large pollution events such as oil spills or flooding events and targeting clean-ups at beaches and coastal waters with large accumulations of plastic pollution.

These priority actions are not the perfect solution, but they are great examples of what can be and is feasibly done to manage marine pollution. Each action is at risk of failing to shift to a cleaner ocean without the support from governments, industries, and individuals across the whole system (from the source to the sink). Governments and individuals need to push for legislation that is binding and support sustainable practices and products. Effective methods for policing also need to be established in partnership with the binding legislation. Regardless of which zone are addressed, our actions on sea and coastal country must be guided by Indigenous knowledge and science (Fischer et al., 2020 ; Mustonen (in prep).

We recognise the major global disruptions which have occurred in 2020, particularly the COVID-19 pandemic. The futures presented here were developed prior to this outbreak and therefore do not consider the effects of this situation on global pollution trends. In many ways, this situation allows us to consider a ‘reset’ in global trajectory as discussed by Nash et al. ( 2021 ). Our sustainable future scenario may be considered a very real goal to achieve in the coming decade.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Lola, Rex and Vanessa Greeno for sharing their knowledge of the impacts of pollution on their art and culture. Thank you to Animate Your Science, JB Creative Services and Annie Gatenby for assistance with the graphical aspects of this project. Thank you to Rupert the Boxer puppy for deciding authorship order. This paper is part of the ‘Future Seas’ initiative ( www.FutureSeas2030.org ), hosted by the Centre for Marine Socioecology at the University of Tasmania. This initiative delivers a series of journal articles addressing key challenges for the UN International Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021-2030. The general concepts and methods applied in many of these papers were developed in large collaborative workshops involving more participants than listed as co-authors here, and we are grateful for their collective input. Funding for Future Seas was provided by the Centre for Marine Socioecology, IMAS, MENZIES and the College of Arts, Law and Education, the College of Science and Engineering at UTAS, and Snowchange from Finland. We acknowledge support from a Research Enhancement Program grant from the DVCR Office at UTAS. Thank you to Camilla Novaglio for providing an internal project review of an earlier draft, and to guest editor Rob Stephenson, editor-in-chief Jan Strugnell and two anonymous reviewers, for improving the manuscript. We acknowledge and pay respect to the traditional owners and custodians of sea country all around the world, and recognise their collective wisdom and knowledge of our ocean and coasts.

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P.S. Puskic and K.A. Willis share equal lead authorship on this paper.

Authors and Affiliations

Centre for Marine Sociology, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, Australia

Kathryn A. Willis, Catarina Serra-Gonçalves, Kelsey Richardson, Jonathan S. Stark, Joanna Vince, Britta D. Hardesty, Chris Wilcox, Barbara F. Nowak, Dean Greeno, Catriona MacLeod & Peter S. Puskic

CSIRO Oceans & Atmosphere, Hobart, TAS, Australia

Kathryn A. Willis, Kelsey Richardson, Qamar A. Schuyler, Britta D. Hardesty & Chris Wilcox

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, Australia

Catarina Serra-Gonçalves, Chris Wilcox, Jennifer L. Lavers, Jayson M. Semmens, Catriona MacLeod & Peter S. Puskic

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, Fisheries and Aquaculture, University of Tasmania, Newnham, TAS, Australia

Kelli Anderson & Barbara F. Nowak

School of Social Sciences, College of Arts, Law and Education, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, Australia

Kathryn A. Willis, Kelsey Richardson & Joanna Vince

School of Creative Arts and Media, College of Arts, Law and Education, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, Australia

Dean Greeno

Australian Antarctic Division, Hobart, TAS, Australia

Jonathan S. Stark

Pikkoritta Consult, Aasiaat, Greenland

Halfdan Pedersen

The PISUNA Project, Qeqertalik Municipality, Attu, Greenland

Nunnoq P. O. Frederiksen

Snowchange Cooperative, Selkie, Finland

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P.S. Puskic and K. Willis share equal lead authorship on this paper. All authors wrote sections of this manuscript and contributed to concept design and paper discussions. N.F and H.P. wrote the narratives for Table 4 . D.G. wrote Table 3 . All authors provided edits and feedback to earlier drafts.

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Willis, K.A., Serra-Gonçalves, C., Richardson, K. et al. Cleaner seas: reducing marine pollution. Rev Fish Biol Fisheries 32 , 145–160 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11160-021-09674-8

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Home — Essay Samples — Environment — Human Impact — Ocean Pollution

Essays on Ocean Pollution

Ocean pollution essay topics and outline examples, essay title 1: the silent crisis: understanding the causes and consequences of ocean pollution.

Thesis Statement: This essay delves into the multifaceted issue of ocean pollution, exploring its root causes, the devastating impacts on marine ecosystems and biodiversity, and the urgent need for global action to mitigate and prevent further harm to our oceans.

• Introduction
• Sources of Ocean Pollution: Industrial, Agricultural, and Urban Contributors
• The Ecological Crisis: Impact on Marine Life and Ecosystems
• Human Health Concerns and Economic Implications
• Solutions and International Collaboration: Strategies for Ocean Conservation

Essay Title 2: Plastics in Our Seas: Investigating the Pervasive Threat of Plastic Pollution

Thesis Statement: This essay focuses on the global issue of plastic pollution in oceans, examining the prevalence of plastic waste, its detrimental effects on marine ecosystems, and efforts to reduce plastic consumption and promote responsible waste management.

• The Scale of Plastic Pollution: Microplastics, Macroplastics, and Ghost Nets
• The Impact on Marine Fauna and the Food Web
• Legislation and Initiatives: Bans, Recycling, and Alternatives
• Consumer Awareness and Responsible Consumption

Essay Title 3: Ocean Pollution and Climate Change: The Interconnected Threats to Our Oceans

Thesis Statement: This essay explores the complex relationship between ocean pollution and climate change, investigating how pollution exacerbates climate-related challenges such as ocean acidification and rising sea levels, and the need for holistic solutions to protect marine environments.

• Ocean Acidification: The Consequences of Increased Carbon Emissions
• Warming Seas and Coral Bleaching: The Role of Pollution
• Sea Level Rise and Coastal Communities: Pollution's Contribution to Climate Impacts
• Adaptive Strategies and Policy Integration for Ocean Resilience

The Causes of Ocean Pollution and The Need for Humans to Save Marine Life

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A Study of Plastic Pollution in The Pacific Ocean

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Pakistan United Nations Environmental Program Leveraging Emerging Technologies to Combat Ocean Pollution

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Ocean Acidification: Solutions and Threats

Addressing the urgent issue of ocean acidification, tackling a global crisis: marine plastic pollution, the impact of pollution on marine ecosystems, protecting marine life and coastal ecosystems, balancing development and conservation for sustainable oceans, understanding and addressing water and ocean pollution, ocean pollution: a threat to marine ecosystems.

Ocean pollution, or marine pollution, occurs when substances used or spread by humans, such as industrial, agricultural and residential waste, particles, noise, excess carbon dioxide or invasive organisms enter the ocean and cause harmful effects there.

Marine debris pollution, plastic pollution, ocean acidification, nutrient pollution, toxins, underwater noise, and other.

There are many ways to categorize and examine the inputs of pollution into marine ecosystems. There are three main types of inputs of pollution into the ocean: direct discharge of waste into the oceans, runoff into the waters due to rain, and pollutants released from the atmosphere.

Ocean pollution has many consequences, such as: harm to marine animals (cancer, behavioral changes and inability to reproduce), depletion of oxygen in seawater, threats to human health (cancer and birth defects).

100 million marine animals die each year from plastic waste alone. The largest trash site on the planet is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, twice the surface area of Texas, it outnumbers sea life there 6 to 1. 70% of our debris sinks into the ocean's ecosystem, 15% floats, and 15% lands on our beaches. 80% of global marine pollution comes from agriculture runoff, untreated sewage, discharge of nutrients and pesticides.

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Ocean Pollution

1 menace of ocean pollution and its impact on ecosystems and human health.

Introduction The Earth is covered by oceans. The ocean covers more than 70% of the Earth’s surface, holds 97% of the world’s water, hosts some of the planet’s most diverse ecosystems, and supports economies in countries around the world. There are many causes of why our oceans are becoming toxic. Ocean pollution is widespread, becoming […]

2 The Urgent Need to Address Ocean Pollution: Effects, Causes, and Solutions

Introduction Hello everyone, and welcome back to my blog page. There’s a very serious topic I’d like to discuss this week, and that is Ocean Pollution. More recently than ever, ocean pollution has become a MAJOR problem. Its effects have become much more serious and hurtful to ocean life and our own as well. The […]

3 Ocean Pollution: Mitigating the Impending Destruction of Ocean Life

Introduction Millions of ocean species are soon to face mass extinction due to pollution. Pollution is everywhere we look, even the Ocean. All the trash that does not end up in the trash lands on the ground and eventually in the Ocean. Ocean life is on the verge of destruction by humans. The Looming Threat […]

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4 The Harmful Effects of Ocean Pollution and the Urgent Need for Action

Introduction Have you ever been to the beach and expected to see a beautiful, refreshing, and clean environment? Instead, you find a beach that is covered with plastic waste, pieces of metal, and chemicals. For example, in the North Pacific Ocean sits a massive patch. It has been famously known as The Great Pacific Garbage […]

5 Ocean Pollution: Challenges, Efforts, and Impact

Introduction The focus of my group’s project was ocean conservation. The oceans are one of Earth’s best gifts to humans, beautiful ecosystems growing with life that provide fresh food to jobs that millions of people can enjoy. These oceans may seem perfectly fine, and there wouldn’t be any major difficulties and concerns, but that’s not […]

• Ocean Melting Greenland
• Marine Plastic Pollution
• Support Ocean Research Project

The Chesapeake Bay Plastic Survey is intended to assess the necessity and to generate a baseline for a future monitoring effort for plastics pollution trends in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Awarded the Woodward and Curran’s Impact Grant, Ocean Research Project will assess bay-wide plastic pollution by exploring plastic particle count as a water quality indicator for monitoring future bay health. In cooperation with its partners, ORP hopes to repeat this project biannually to enrich understanding of the Bay-wide magnitude of plastic pollution, export to the ocean, and how that is changing relative to Bay improvements and climate change.

ORP’s study will be the first to determine particle concentration of plastic pollution across the United States’ largest estuary, the Chesapeake Bay. The information from this pilot project will be used to inform a dedicated multi-year sampling program by the Chesapeake Bay Program partners at the federal, state, and local levels.

The abundance of plastic garbage created by modern human civilization has infiltrated the deepest trenches of the world’s oceans and concentrated in huge areas on its surface. An estimated 5.5 trillion pieces of plastic debris are in the world’s oceans. There are countless sources of this plastic debris, but virtually all of it originates on land through the overuse of plastics in our daily lives and improper waste disposal. Once plastic trash enters the Ocean, nature’s forces and the migration of marine species and birds determine how the plastic material and chemical compounds move and accumulate through the complex marine environment, including the food chain and the Plastisphere. Much of this plastic debris is concentrated at the centers of enormous oceanic current circulation regions, called gyres.

We know a little more about chemical transfer risk in the sea food chain. Check out our collaborative publication in Marine Pollution Bulletin to find out more… Here

To better understand the nature of plastic debris in the Ocean, ORP has conducted multiple research expeditions in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic Oceans. ORP completed its first marine debris research expedition in 2013. During this trip, its crew spent 70 days sailing in the Atlantic Ocean, collecting samples of plastic trash in the water and mapping out the eastern side of the North Atlantic garbage patch. The following year, ORP embarked upon a second expedition to research microplastic pollution in the Pacific Ocean. During this trip, ORP’s crew sailed 6,800 miles nonstop from San Francisco to Yokohama, Japan, collecting microplastic samples along the trans-pacific route.

Due to the flexibility offered by doing research from a sailboat, ORP’s expeditions could dedicate more time to collecting data samples across a much broader area than other similar types of marine research expeditions would typically cover. ORP’s research has provided an essential baseline for marine surface debris data and improved knowledge of the concentration, composition, and extent of plastic debris in the Ocean. ORP conducted its research to ensure the samples could be used to support further research being done as part of plastic pellet toxicity studies at the University of Tokyo’s Pelletwatch program. In addition, ORP’s research was designed to allow ORP and participating scientists to define further the diversity of the Plastisphere, specifically the roles played by bacteria and viruses in their evolving relationships with plastic debris in the Ocean.

ORP’s research expeditions targeting the investigation of northern hemisphere subtropical gyres of the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean and well as the western Arctic’s plastic pollution in the marine environment have helped increase the scientific community’s understanding of plastic’s pollution’s pervasive distribution across oceans from the sea ice to the seabed. The extensive datasets and that ORP collected, processed and regional interpretation during these expeditions contributed to the following publications:

• Plastic Pollution in the World’s Oceans: More than 5 Trillion Plastic Pieces Weighing over 250,000 Tons Afloat at Sea  
• PCBs and PBDEs in microplastic particles and zooplankton in open water in the Pacific Ocean and around the coast of Japan
• Mitigation strategies to reverse the rising trend of plastics in Polar Regions

To date, ORP has sailed tens of thousands of miles, spent many months at sea, and a considerable amount of time in labs back on land sorting the samples and data. During our extended periods of time at sea, there was not one day that went by where we did not see foraging birds mistaking marine debris for food. The fight to prevent pollution from plastic debris in the ocean is best fought at the primary source, on land. Education is a critical element of this effort to increase public awareness and encourage proper disposal of plastic trash along with reduced use of plastics ( link to ORP’s education page ).

Research Papers & Reports

Pva detergent pods pollute: degradation of pva in us wastewater treatment plants and subsequent nationwide emission estimates.

Source: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (2021)

No Plastic In Nature: Assessing Plastic Ingestion From Nature to People

Source: World Wildlife Foundation

Solving Plastic Pollution Through Accountability

Plastic and health: the hidden costs of a plastic planet.

Source: Center for International Environmental Law

The Vertical Distribution and Biological Transport of Marine Microplastics Across the Epipelagic and Mesopelagic Water Column

Source: Scientific Reports  9 , Article number: 7843 (2019)

Distribution and Modeled Transport of Plastic Pollution in the Great Lakes

Source: Frontiers in Environmental Science

Production, Use and Fate of All Plastics Ever Made

Source: AAAS

Invisibles: The Plastic Inside Us

Source: Orb

Microplastics and Fisheries and Aquaculture

Source: FAO United Nations

The New Plastics Economy: Rethinking the Future of Plastics

Source: Ellen MacArthur Foundation

Marine Plastic Debris and Microplastics

Source: United Nations Environmental Programme

Stop the Flood of Plastic: How Mediterranean Countries Can Save Their Sea

Source: WWF

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92 Ocean Essay Topics

🏆 best essay topics on ocean, 👍 good ocean research topics & essay examples, 🎓 most interesting ocean research titles, 💡 simple ocean essay ideas, ❓ questions about the ocean.

• Climate Change Impacts on Oceans
• Five Oceans of the Earth
• How Human Activities Pollute Oceans
• Description of the Pacific Ocean
• Cyclone Asani in the North Indian Ocean Area
• Ocean Research vs. Outer Space Exploration
• Blue Ocean Strategy and Framework
• The Problem of Ocean Pollution Today One of the main causes of the oceans being polluted is trash that includes various manufactured products like plastic bottles, shopping bags, food wrappers, and cigarettes.
• The Ocean Clean Up Company’s Trial in Guatemala Ocean Clean Up has done an excellent job of creating the first scalable solution to efficiently intercept plastic in rivers before it reaches the oceans.
• Fiji’s Integrated Ocean Policy for Sustainable Blue Economy Examine Fiji’s approach to a sustainable blue economy through an integrated ocean policy, addressing challenges like overfishing and pollution.
• International Logistics: Ocean Transportation The rapidly growing global economy and the development of interstate supply chains, which is especially relevant for transnational companies.
• Plastic Crises in the Ocean and Effects on Marine Ecosystems The accumulation of plastic waste in the oceans causes physical damage to marine species and habitats, leading to the spread of invasive species and diseases.
• Impact of Human Behavior on Ocean and Ocean Acidification The paper states that the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has been increasing over the years due to human behavior and actions.
• How El Niño Affects Ocean Circulation and How Climate Is Impacted Climate change research has progressed to the point that paleoclimatic data may now provide trustworthy information on the responses of the climate system.
• The Consequences of the Ocean Acidification The paper aims to explore the phenomena of ocean acidification and define human-caused threats to the health of the world ocean and the corresponding consequences.
• Trans-ocean Transportation: Environmental Study The ocean has always been an inseparable part of human existence. It serves as a source of food and a transportation network, linking all continents.
• West Indian Ocean Coelacanth (Latimeria Chalumnae) Latimeria Chalumnae is an exception – a living fossil and a fish that is closer to tetrapods, including humans, rather than to the ray-finned fish, from an evolutionary standpoint.
• Comparative History of the Red Sea Trans-Saharan and Indian Ocean Slave Trades In the period that spanned the four last decades of the 15th century, the merchants took slaves from East Africa, North Africa, and some parts of Europe, such as South Italy.
• Ocean Transport Capitalizing Interest Costs Ocean transport plans to convert its container ship to passenger-container ship via borrowing of funds. The intended use of the modified ship is not intended to be sold.
• Hong Kong Ocean Park’s Resource-Based Management The main idea of the resource-based view within the context of the Hong Kong Ocean Park case study is to emphasize the role of assessing the company’s own resources.
• Environmental Issues: Plastics in the Ocean The circular economy encourages recycling and reuse and this approach could be used effectively to mitigate the problem of plastic marine pollution in the long term.
• The WWF’s Environmental Advertisement on Marine and Ocean Pollution Visual image can also make a convincing point, and this is particularly applicable to social and environmental advertising.
• Geologic Time and the World Ocean: Diving a Bit Deeper Studying the history of the Earth’s climate means analyzing the archaeological traces that the previous eras have left; and nowhere is the search for these traces is as efficient as it is in the ocean.
• Iron Seeding Oceans: Global Warming Solution The principle behind iron seeding is the reduction of carbon dioxide through photosynthesis. One of the major raw materials needed in photosynthesis is carbon dioxide.
• What Lurks in the Depth of the Ocean? A range of technological advances and solutions for economic issues pose a tangible threat to environment, and oceans are by far the most vulnerable element of the latter.
• Will California Really Fall into the Ocean? The paper discusses if it is possible that California fall into the ocean due to the influence of some forces in the near future.
• Oceans and Their Systems An ocean gyre can be defined as a system of ocean currents, which exist in a constant rotating movement. The cause of the ocean gyre is wind movements.
• Silk Road and Indian Ocean Trade
• Shark Hunting: The Loss of an Apex Predator and the Corruption of the Ocean Ecosystem
• Australi the South Pacific and the Indian Ocean
• Global Warming and Its Effects on the Ocean
• Coral the Most Important Part of Ocean Ecosystem
• Climate Change and Ocean Temperature
• Jersey Shore Ocean Pollution
• How Does Ocean Pollution Impact Earth?
• Economic, Technological, and Social Aspects of Ocean
• How Dangerous the Ocean Can Be?
• Human Overpopulation, Ocean Acidification, and Pollution
• Ocean Floor’s Hydrothermal Vents
• Ocean Dumping & Marine Pollution
• Microbial Respiration, the Engine of Ocean Deoxygenation
• Novel Ocean Energy Permanent Magnet Linear Generator Buoy
• Objects Deep Beneath the Surface of the Ocean Are
• Horizontal and Vertical Ocean Currents
• Cruising Across the Indian Ocean
• Ocean Acidification May Change How Sharks Behave
• 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake & Sanaysay
• Acidification and the Ocean’s Changing Climate
• Sahara and the Indian Ocean
• Ocean Carbon Sinks and International Climate Policy
• Ocean Ecosystem-Based Management Mandates and Implementation in the North Atlantic
• Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami
• High-Frequency Ocean Carbon Chemistry Observation
• Earths Dynamic Ocean and Atmosphere
• Ocean Acidification: Negative Impacts on Shellfish
• Ocean Global Warming Impacts on the South America Climate
• Future Vision for Autonomous Ocean Observations
• The Pacific Ocean and Land Bridge Theory
• Cuttlefish and Squid Jets of the Ocean
• Porter’s Five Forces Model Versus a Blue Ocean Strategy
• Ocean Tidal Power: Obtaining Electricity From Low and High Tides
• National Science Foundation Funds Is Called Ocean
• Coral Reef Ecosystems Under Climate Change and Ocean Acidification
• Bacterial Biogeography Across the Amazon River-Ocean Continuum
• Human Impact Upon the Environment: Ocean Pollution and Marine Life
• Deep Water Ocean North Atlantic
• Multivariate Modeling and Analysis of Regional Ocean Freight Rates
• Can Nano Technology Help Clean Up Oil Spills in the Ocean and Seas?
• How Does Carbon Dioxide Affect the Levels of the Ocean?
• Where Did the Water of the Ocean Come From?
• Should the Government Regulate Ocean Pollution?
• How Does the Overfishing of Sharks Affect Ocean Ecosystems?
• Where Does the Responsibility of Conserving Ocean Life Lie?
• How Does the Temperature of Ocean Water Vary?
• Why Is Productivity Higher in Some Areas of the Ocean?
• What Causes the Major Types of Ocean Currents?
• How Does Water’s High Latent Heat Influence the Ocean?
• Where Are the Youngest Rocks in the Ocean Crust?
• Can Humans Survive Without the Ocean?
• What Drives the Vertical Movement of Ocean Water?
• How Do the Colonists Change the World of the Atlantic Ocean?
• Why Did People Think an Ocean Is Deepest at Its Center?
• Can a Human Swim to the Bottom of the Ocean?
• What’s Causing Ocean Acidification?
• How Do the Ocean and Plants Affect the Removal of Carbon in Our Atmosphere?
• Where Are the Major Warm and Cool Ocean Currents Located?
• Why Is Exploring the Ocean Mankind’s Next Giant Leap?
• How Does Ocean Acidification Affect the Arctic Ocean?
• Why Should Ocean Exploration Be Funded at the Same Rate as Space Exploration?
• Will the Atlantic Ocean Ever Be Bigger Than the Pacific Ocean?
• How Cold Is the Bottom of the Ocean?
• Why Are There Deep Grooves in the Floor of Some of the Ocean Basins?

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Plastics Research

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Microplastics in the Human Food System

Humans consume microplastics through the food and beverages we eat and drink. The objective of this research was to measure microplastics in understudied and unstudied United States food products to further inform microplastic exposure estimates from the human diet and identify potential drivers of microplastic contamination in foods. We aimed to understand microplastic burdens in 16 U.S.-sourced products, including commonly consumed seafoods, terrestrial meats and plant-based proteins. We also investigated the influences of processing level, brand and store type on microplastic contamination. We paired our findings with responses from a recent survey led by Ocean Conservancy regarding protein consumption among the U.S. adult population to provide estimates of human microplastic exposure through consumption of these different protein types.

What did we find?

• Microplastic contamination is ubiquitous across protein products as microplastics were present in all protein types and 88% of all samples.
• A variety of particle types were observed, with fibers being the predominant morphology, followed by fragments then rubber particles.
• We found no differences in microplastic burden between different protein types (seafood, terrestrial and plant-based proteins), different brands of the same product type or different stores the products were sourced from (conventional grocer vs. natural/organic grocer).
• Highly-processed products contained significantly more microplastics per gram than minimally-processed products, but not significantly more than fresh-caught products.
• We found no evidence that microplastics in our samples originated from product packaging as few particles in the samples matched the packaging it came in (e.g. clear films for a product packaged in soft clear plastic).
• Exposure per serving of protein: Based on microplastic counts and survey data on U.S. adult protein consumption, we estimate that, for the 16 protein types studied, American adults consume on average 74 microplastics per serving.
• Annual exposure (for single proteins): When considering consumption of only a single protein type, the mean exposure is about 1,500 microplastics annually. The average annual consumption among these products ranges from 140 microplastics per year for chicken breast to 12,800 microplastics per year for breaded shrimp.

Annual exposure for the totality of all products studied: Based on average reported protein consumption by adults in the U.S. and the average microplastic burden per protein studied, we estimate an American adult will consume, on average, 11,500 microplastics per year. Annual exposure could be as high as 3.8 million microplastics per year if based on average reported protein consumption, but employing the highest levels of microplastics found in each individual protein type.

Public Perceptions of Plastic Pollution

Understanding how the general public perceives topics about plastic pollution and solutions can inform actions to prevent plastic pollution, tailor a focus toward policies with the most community support and identify areas where increased public knowledge is needed. In 2021, Ocean Conservancy led a survey of 1,960 U.S. adults and 882 Ocean Conservancy-connected individuals to gather insights on the knowledge, perceptions and concerns about threats to the ocean, with a specific focus on plastic and microplastic pollution. This research aimed to provide data for the U.S. population from which future studies can measure evolving attitudes and behaviors. The survey aimed to better understand:

• Perceptions of ocean health and threats.
• Perceptions of ocean plastic pollution and impacts.
• Perceptions of microplastic pollution and impacts.
• Opinions about who bears responsibility for actions to tackle plastic and microplastic pollution.
• Willingness to take individual actions to tackle plastic pollution.

Responses from the U.S. adult survey group were also compared to U.S. Ocean Conservancy members who are highly attuned to ocean issues. Overall, our survey results provide new insights into public understanding of ocean threats and plastic pollution, willingness to participate in individual plastic-reduction actions and support for needed solutions. These findings can be used to support policy actions to reduce plastic pollution, aid in communication about various facets of the issue and inform future prevention of plastic pollution.

• Plastic pollution was the primary ocean concern identified by both U.S. adults and Ocean Conservancy members, surpassing eight other threat categories including oil spills, chemical and nutrient pollution and climate change.
• Broad concern was reported about the impacts of ocean plastics on marine wildlife, with human health and coastal community impact concerns being less prominent.
• About half of U.S. adults and 90% of Ocean Conservancy members had heard of microplastics.
• Both study groups indicated widespread support for microplastic pollution prevention measures in the U.S. and believed industry (plastic manufacturers and producers) to be most responsible for taking action to address it.
• Ocean Conservancy members were generally better informed and more concerned about plastic pollution impacts and microplastics compared to overall U.S. adults and reported significantly greater levels of personal action to reduce their plastic footprint when compared to U.S. adults.
• In general, U.S. adults reported a willingness to refuse single-use plastics, but less frequently brought personal takeout food containers to restaurants or contacted local representatives or businesses about reducing plastic waste and pollution.

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A Current Review of Water Pollutants in American Continent: Trends and Perspectives in Detection, Health Risks, and Treatment Technologies

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Currently, water pollution represents a serious environmental threat, causing an impact not only to fauna and flora but also to human health. Among these pollutants, inorganic and organic pollutants are predominantly important representing high toxicity and persistence and being difficult to treat using current methodologies. For this reason, several research groups are searching for strategies to detect and remedy contaminated water bodies and effluents. Due to the above, a current review of the state of the situation has been carried out. The results obtained show that in the American continent a high diversity of contaminants is present in the water bodies affecting several aspects, in which in some cases, there exists alternatives to realize the remediation of contaminated water. It is concluded that the actual challenge is to establish sanitation measures at the local level based on the specific needs of the geographical area of interest. Therefore, water treatment plants must be designed according to the contaminants present in the water of the region and tailored to the needs of the population of interest.

1. Introduction

Water contamination represents a current crisis in human and environmental health. The presence of contaminants in the water and the lack of basic sanitation hinder the eradication of extreme poverty and diseases in the poorest countries [ 1 ]. For example, water sanitation deficiency is one of the leading causes of mortality in several countries. Due to unsafe water and a lack of sanitation, there are several diseases present in the population [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]. Therefore, the sixth global objective of the United Nations, foreseen as part of its sustainable development agent 2030, aims to guarantee the availability and sustainable management of water resources. In this sense, numerous research groups have focused on proposing alternative solutions focusing on three fundamental aspects: (a) detection of contaminants present in water for human consumption, (b) assessment of risks to public and environmental health due to the presence of contaminants in the water, and (c) the proposal of water treatment technologies. In the case of the American continent, the detection of contaminants (inorganic and organic) has been studied; the research works show alarming results in which the impact of water pollution is demonstrated, how the ecosystem is being affected, and consequently the repercussion towards human health [ 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]. This last point becomes worrying due to the fact that there are reported cases in which newborns, children, and adults consumed drinking water from various sources (such as rivers, lakes, groundwater, and wells) without the certainty that it is free of contaminants, representing a health risk factor [ 9 , 10 , 11 ]. Some of the detected contaminants have been associated with a potential health risk, such as the case of some disinfectants with cancer [ 12 ] and NO 3 − and NO 2 − as potential carcinogens in the digestive system [ 13 ]. The lack of safe drinking water has been reported in several countries [ 3 , 14 ] since the presence of contaminants in water has demonstrated that actual quality controls are not able to detect or treat pollutants that are present [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ].

In this sense, numerous research groups have focused on proposing alternative solutions focusing on three fundamental aspects: (a) the detection of contaminants present in water for human consumption, (b) assessment of risks to public and environmental health due to the presence of contaminants in the water, and (c) a proposal for water treatment technologies. This communication shows a critical review of the latest published research works. The use of Web Of Science from Clarivate Analytics was used for the bibliographic review. The bibliographic search was carried out in January 2023 using the keywords “public health pollutants/contaminants water” + “name of the American country.” The retrieved articles were filtered considering the following: (i) articles published in the period 2018–2023, (ii) articles carried out based on effluents and bodies of water belonging to the American continent, and (iii) articles that demonstrate the presence and/or treatment of organic (excluding biological contaminants) and inorganic contaminants in water. The selection of these research articles was used to carry out a critical review of the current situation to propose future challenges to achieve efficient, and sustainable water treatment processes.

2. Critical Review: Evaluation of the Current Situation, Perspectives, and Challenges in the Detection of Contaminants, Health Risk Assessment, and Water Treatment Technologies in the American Continent

2.1. detection of contaminants in water.

At present, there are various analytical techniques that have been used in the detection and quantification of inorganic and organic contaminants in aqueous matrices. Mainly, these techniques can be divided into three major groups: chromatographic, spectroscopic, and other techniques, such as electrochemical and colorimetric titration. A comparison of the advantages and disadvantages of the most commonly used analytical techniques is presented in Supplementary Table S1 . From these, techniques that have been used the most are shown below.

In chromatographic techniques, the most reported are gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), gas chromatography/mass spectrometry with selected ion monitoring (GC-MS/SIM), liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight- mass spectrometry (LC-QTOF-MS), high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS), ultra-performance liquid chromatography- electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (UPLC-ESI-MS), high-performance liquid chromatography-charged aerosol detector (HPLC-CAD), and ion chromatography (IC). In the case of spectroscopic techniques, these include inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS), inductively coupled plasma dynamic reaction cell mass spectrometry (ICP-DRC-MS), thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS), high resolution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HR-ICP-MS), particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE), fluorescence spectrometry, inductively coupled optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), and cold vapor atomic absorption spectrophotometry (CVAAS).

From these techniques, it has been possible to determine the concentrations of various pollutants of interest to human health and the environment.

The compilation of information from the latest scientific reports (related to the detection of inorganic contaminants present in the water) is shown in Table 1 and Figure 1 (geographical distribution). On the other hand, the comparison of the detection limits for the limits of interest using different analytical techniques is presented in Supplementary Table S2 . Among them, some works have been carried out based on water bodies in different countries, such as Canada [ 19 ], USA [ 20 , 21 , 22 ], Mexico [ 23 ], and Brazil [ 24 ], in which the presence of As, Fe, U, Zn, Na, K, Ca, Mg, HCO 3 − , and Hg with respect to interactions among water, bedrock mineralogy, and geochemical conditions of the region has been studied, so they can be classified as contamination due to a natural source. A particular case can be analyzed for U, which is present in water bodies of the southwest and west central USA, because high levels of acute exposure can be fatal for the population, and chronic exposure at low levels is associated with health problems, such as renal and cardiac risk. Although, exposure studies of surrounding communities cannot be considered conclusive, they correspond to a great advance in the field, and future studies should be carried out to assess possible damage to human health and the ecosystem.

Geographical distribution of pollutants detected in the American continent in different matrices (water, blood, sediments, biota) in the last 5 years.

On the other hand, research works stand out showing that water pollution can occur due to anthropogenic activities [ 25 ], being evident that modern practices of agriculture and livestock have consequences as the indiscriminate use of fertilizers, pesticides, and hormones results in nitrates in the water, which are associated with a risk of congenital anomalies, such as heart and neural tube defects.

Within the works carried out, one of the most concurrent techniques used in the evaluation of contaminants has been performed via ICP (MS or OES) due to its high precision, low cost, low detection limits, and the advantage of analyzing a large number of elements simultaneously in a short time [ 26 ]. However, in some cases, the detection limits of the technique are above the maximum permissible limits proposed by the WHO (World Health Organization), such is the case of Hg, for which the detection limit is of 0.0025 mg L − 1 and the maximum detection limit recommended by the WHO is 0.002 mg L − 1 . Therefore, it is concluded that one of the challenges to be dealt with for metal detection in water is based in the fact that current techniques must be complemented by advanced analytical techniques, such as electrochemical tests [ 27 ]. These techniques are of great interest for their study due to the benefits they have, such as improvements in detection limits, low operating costs, short analysis times, and mobility, being able to perform analytical determinations in situ [ 27 ]. It is concluded that the contaminants with the greatest presence in the continent are As, U, Pb, Mn, Se, and Hg, mainly related to the mineralogy of the analyzed site and anthropogenic activities in the analysis areas. However, in some cases, the source of contamination is natural and occurs periodically due to seasonal changes, with the rainy season being the period with the greatest presence due to the mobility of metals contained in the rock and soil of the region [ 28 , 29 ]. Moreover, the presence of ions in solution related to the use of fertilizers and agrochemicals in crop fields has also been documented [ 30 ]. It is important to denote that the origin of the contamination source is not accurately concluded, providing a current challenge for the exact determination of the source to propose containment and sanitation actions to solve the problem.

Detection of inorganic pollutants in environmental samples.

Research studies presented in Table 1 demonstrated the potential human health risks that metal presence can have in water bodies, being important to highlight that there is still a need to evaluate the impact that inorganic contaminants have on human health. Furthermore, several research groups in different countries have detected the presence of contaminants not only in the supply sources, such as water bodies, but also in aquatic environments, such as flora and fauna being affected and representing economic importance since certain species can be traded, based on great demand to satisfy local and international markets.

On the other hand, organic contaminants can be divided into several groups; nevertheless, the principal groups are the ones denominated as persistent organic pollutants (POPs). These pollutants have an important impact on the environment and human health. Some examples are per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), personal care products, pharmaceutical compounds, pesticides, phenolic compounds, dyes, hormones, sweeteners, surfactants, and others.

Their detection has been primarily necessary to assess the effects that these pollutants have. Most of them are primarily obtained from industrial activities having different uses, such as flame retardants, coolants, cement, and others. Their presence represents an important contribution to water ecotoxicity (Ecuador, Argentina, Mexico) that affects the integrity of the species that inhabit that ecosystem [ 53 , 54 , 55 ].

Important issues have been detected in aquatic environments. The bioaccumulation of several organic compounds, such as polychlorinated biphenyl compounds (PBCs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), in important water bodies, such as Lake Chapala (Mexico), has been reported, through the analysis of samples recollected from water, fish, and sediments from two local seasonal periods. In this case, the fish analyzed were Cyprinus carpio , Oreochromis aureus , and Chirostoma spp., establishing that these chemical substances can reach the lake via industrial activities and strong winds and enter from the Lerma River (Mexico) [ 55 ].

In the study of Ramos et al. (2021), a water analysis was performed in the river and its treated water throughout a year in Minas-Gerais (Brazil). The detection of seventeen phenolic compounds with a single quadrupole gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer equipment (GCMS-QP2010 SE) coupled with a flame ionization detector (FID) was analyzed. From the samples analyzed, only sixteen were detected, being that 3-methylphenol was the only one not detected. In raw water, the detection of 2,3,4-trichlorophenol, 2,4-dimethylphenol, and 4-nitrophenol was found with the most frequency and for treated water, 4-nitrophenol and bisphenol A, establishing that a health risk to the environment and humans was identified with the contamination of these phenolic compounds [ 56 ]. Another study carried out in the St. Lawrence River, Quebec, (Canada), was performed based on an analysis of surface water for the detection of ultraviolet absorbents (UVAs) and industrial antioxidants (IAs). The detection was carried out via gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) detecting several groups of UVAs, such as organic UV filters (benzophenone (BP), 2-ethylhexyl salicylate (EHS), 2-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzophenone (BP3), 3,3,5-trimethylcyclohexylsalicylate (HMS), 2-ethylhexyl 2-cyano-3,3-diphenylacrylate (OC), and ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate (EHMC)), aromatic secondary amines (diphenylamine (DPA)), benzotriazole UV stabilizers (2-(2H-benzotriazol-2-yl)-4,6-di-tert-pentylphenol (UV238), and synthetic phenolic antioxidants (2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-methylphenol (BHT) and 2,6-di-tert-butyl-1,4-benzoquinone (BHTQ)). The field-based tissue-specific bioaccumulation factors (BAF) were analyzed to assess these contaminants in fish tissues (lake sturgeon and northern pike) in which some of the compounds that accumulated in lake sturgeon were BP3, BHT, and UV238. For northern pike, some were BP, BP3, BHT, and BHTQ, establishing an environmental risk assessment in terms of possible adverse effects on fish [ 57 ].

Finally, in the case of PAHs, several compounds have been detected (fluorene, naphthalene, anthracene, chrysene, and others) in different American countries, such as Canada, United States of America, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, and Brazil [ 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 ]. Their presence has been related to anthropogenic activities, such as aluminum smelter or oil production, having a negative impact on health, such as carcinogenic effects.

For this reason, analytical assays must be performed to establish the concentrations of these pollutants using techniques that are capable of studying a complex matrix and if it is possible, in situ. In Table 2 , the description of several studies that were able to detect organic compounds in environmental samples and the technique that was employed are provided.

Detection of organic pollutants in environmental samples.

As it can be appreciated in Table 2 , a variety of organic compounds have been identified as being associated with several disorders and diseases. Nevertheless, most of the studies analyzed correlated its contaminant of interest with previous research that evaluated its potential human health risk effect. For this reason, it is important to detect the contaminant and correlate it with its health impact in the environment (population and biota).

2.2. Presence of Pollutants in Water: Impact on Human Health and Its Possible Sources

The inorganic contaminants with the greatest presence in water bodies correspond to heavy metals. At the moment, the potential damage to health due to heavy metals has been reported as listed below: As(III) (skin damage, circulatory system issues), Cd(II) (kidney damage, carcinogenic, cardiovascular damage, hematological, and skeletal changes), Cr(III) (allergic dermatitis, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting), Cu(II) (gastrointestinal, liver or kidney damage), Pb(II) (kidney damage, reduced neural development, behavioral disorders), Hg(II) (kidney damage, nervous system).

According to the scientific reports analyzed, it is concluded that there are two main risk factors in public health: (i) the intake of contaminated water, being the main factor due to direct exposure to the contaminant, which can produce different anomalies as those described in the previous paragraph. However, the studies presented cannot be considered conclusive, since the reports show that the impact on health is directly related to the clinical history of the exposed population [ 20 ]. (ii) The consumption of contaminated food, such as in the case of the report of da-Silva et al. (2019) [ 24 ], which reported Hg migration in water from the Western Amazon Basin (Amazon Triple Frontier: Brazil, Peru, and Colombia) to fish; being that if they are intended for human consumption, this can cause mercury intoxication (mercurialism). While the intake of contaminated food is the most likely action to occur, there are other special factors that particularly attract attention, such as the report presented by Oliveira et al. (2021) [ 87 ] studying a potential health risk in terms of a cognitive deficit due to soil intake by pre-school children aged 1 to 4 years, which presents high levels of Pb and Cd due to contact with contaminated wastewater from industries in the region of São Paulo (Brazil).

On the other hand, for organic contaminants, data analysis and comparison has been performed in different countries evidencing the necessity of establishing strategies to remediate water pollution ( Figure 1 ). These strategies are urgent, based on the potential risk that these contaminants can have on human health [ 88 , 89 , 90 ]. Although there are currently certain reports, guidance values or standards that allow establishing criteria based on the presence of these contaminants and their potential toxic effect are needed [ 43 , 91 ]. Efforts have been performed to establish international regulations since the majority of organic compounds are not quality controls [ 92 ].

For this reason, several research groups have tried to determine the impact a chemical compound has on human health. For example, atrazine, an artificial herbicide that was detected in surface water, has been associated with an impact on human health and aquatic biota [ 93 ], upon evaluating endocrine-disrupting compounds that can affect human health via cell-based assays [ 94 ]. Moreover, per and polyfluoroalkyl substances have been determined, but there are no reference points that establish a water quality criterion for its impact on human health [ 91 ]. Based on this, there is a need to establish scientific studies in a human population and evaluate the impact of water pollution on its health. Some studies have been performed (see Table 3 ) to correlate the exposure of contaminants in people’s life and if possible, establish the impact that water sources and body contamination have.

Scientific studies on the correlation between a water source and the presence of certain pollutants in a human population.

2.3. Water Treatment Technologies for the Removal of Contaminants in Water: Status and Perspectives

2.3.1. inorganic contaminants.

Taking into consideration the environmental and public health risk represented by effluents and water bodies contaminated with metals, numerous research groups have focused on proposing remediation alternatives, highlighting the adsorption process [ 104 , 105 ], coagulation/flocculation [ 106 ], chemical precipitation [ 107 ], ion exchange [ 108 ], electrochemical treatments [ 109 , 110 ], membrane use (ultrafiltration, osmosis, and nanofiltration) [ 111 , 112 ], and other alternative treatments based on the use of biopolyelectrolytes and coupled adsorption processes with electrochemical regeneration [ 113 , 114 ]. In all cases, the actual challenge consists of evaluating the scale-up process, for which studies have been performed on a small scale under controlled conditions.

Although, scientific reports have demonstrated great efficiencies in the removal of heavy metals, there has been certain problems documented for each technology, which must be addressed to present advanced remediation technologies. For the ion exchange process, it has been documented that those present with low efficiencies for the removal of high concentrations of metals [ 115 ]. For example, Malik et al. (2019) reported removal efficiencies of 55% for Pb and 30–40% for Hg [ 116 ]. In the case of membrane filtration, good removal efficiencies have been reported (around 90% for Cu and Cd) [ 116 ],;however, it requires high installation costs and maintenance [ 117 ]. Likewise, it has been reported that the electrochemical, catalysis, and coagulation/flocculation processes present high metal removal efficiencies (around 85–99% for Cd, Zn, and Mn) [ 118 ]. On the other hand, the main drawbacks are high installation costs and extra operational costs, as well as the generation of unwanted by-products (sludge) [ 119 ]. These drawbacks significantly reduce the effectiveness of water treatment processes, so a second challenge to deal with is process optimization.

Finally, the third challenge is the design of environmentally and economically sustainable treatment processes. The current paradigm of water treatment of metal contamination must be broken; the importance is not only in water sanitation, but also in recovering the metal in order to obtain valuable products and not only change the pollutant phase [ 120 ]. For all the above, adsorption and chemical precipitation have turned out to be the most used methods. However, the removal results obtained depend on each matrix used, so the materials and experimental conditions must be proposed based on the needs and the type of effluent to be treated [ 121 ].

2.3.2. Organic Contaminants

In the previous sections, the detection of these pollutants is only the first step to evaluate the environmental risk that communities and countries have in their respective water sources. The next step is to determine technologies that can establish an efficiency in the removal of these contaminants in a complex matrix without affecting the environment using novel systems [ 122 , 123 , 124 ]. In this regard, an actual challenge is the development of technologies capable of treating specific organic compounds and if it is possible, to use these treatment technologies with the current systems that governments have implemented. Some technologies that have been investigated are the use of continuous flow supercritical water (SCW) for the removal of hormones from the wastewater of a pharmaceutical industry. In their results, the technology was demonstrated to reduce 88.4% of the initial total organic carbon (TOC) value, and the presence in gas phase of H 2 , CH 4 , CO, CO 2 , C 2 H 6 , and C 2 H 4 , which could be used to produce renewable energy. Moreover, phytotoxicity assays demonstrated that there was no risk of the treated samples with respect to the germination of Cucumis sativus seeds [ 125 ]. Another technology that has been used is direct contact membrane distillation, which can be used to treat raw surface water contaminated with phenolic compounds [ 126 ]. In this case, water samples were spiked with 15 phenolic compounds. An important parameter evaluated was the recovery rate (RR) to demonstrate the stability of the direct membrane distillation, being up to a 30%. Pollutant removal reached 94.3 ± 1.9% and 95.0 ± 2.2% for 30% and 70% RR, respectively. A consideration for this technology is to work at a recovery rate in which flux does not decay (RR < 30%) to avoid performing loss and fouling.

Different approaches have been used for the removal of contaminants, such as the use of a photocatalytic paint based on TiO 2 nanoparticles and acrylate-based photopolymer resin for the removal of dyes in different water matrices [ 127 ]. Another strategy was subsurface horizontal flow-constructed wetlands (planted in polyculture and unplanted) as secondary domestic wastewater treatment to demonstrate the removal of personal care and pharmaceutical products [ 128 ].

Considering the above mentioned content, among all technologies evaluated currently to eliminate organic contaminants present in water, Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs) stand out, since they generate highly reactive and non-selective radicals capable of almost completely mineralizing the contaminant of interest, generating mainly CO 2 and H 2 O as an oxidation product. In this sense, the most widely studied AOPs correspond to catalytic wet peroxide oxidation, catalytic wet air oxidation, homogeneous catalyst, photo-Fenton, Fenton process, photocatalysis, Fenton-like, electro-Fenton, heterogeneous catalyst, ultrasound, and microwave [ 129 ]. Although the results show the potential use of technologies for water treatment, there are still challenges to address. The current challenge of this technology must be aimed at scaling the process, optimizing operational parameters, and designing a sustainable technology to have a low cost and be environmentally friendly, achieving the lowest generation of by-products. In this sense, two recently published research articles stand out in which AOPs have been evaluated for the treatment of contaminated water effluents in the Latin American region. Mejía-Morales et al. (2020) [ 130 ] presented the use of an AOP based on UV/H 2 O 2 /O 3 for the remediation of residual water from a hospital in Puebla (Mexico), showing the feasibility of its use to remediate effluents contaminated with a high organic load. On the other hand, Zárate-Guzmán et al. (2021) [ 131 ] presented the scale-up of a Fenton and Photo-Fenton process for the treatment of piggery wastewater in Guanajuato (Mexico). The results show that these two AOPs have great application potential for the remediation of effluents contaminated with a high organic load due to their high removal percentages (COD, TOC, and Color) and low operating costs.

3. Conclusions

The presence of contaminants in the water is a severe environmental and public health problem in the American continent. The presence of inorganic (As, Cd, Cr, Pb, Cu, Hg, and U) and organic pollutants (dyes, phenolic compounds, hormones, pesticides, and pharmaceuticals compounds) in effluents and water bodies is due to anthropogenic activities and natural factors in the region. The health risks associated with these contaminants primarily encompass skin damage, carcinogenic effects, nervous system damage, circulatory system issues, kidney damage, gastrointestinal damage, and impacts on the food chain. The critical review of the reports presented in this document identifies the following as the main challenges:

• (i) Implement advanced analytical detection techniques, such as those based on electrochemical tests, to achieve improvements in detection limits, low operating costs, short analysis times, and mobility to perform in situ determinations.
• (ii) Accurately determine the source of contamination in each geographic site of interest to propose containment and sanitation actions to solve the problem.
• (iii) Evaluate water treatment technologies on a large scale and under real conditions to optimize the treatment processes.
• (iv) Design and/or conditioning of specific water treatment plants according to the pollutant of interest in the region. The universal design paradigm of a water treatment plant must be broken; the pertinent modifications must be made according to the needs of the population of interest.
• (v) Design environmentally and economically sustainable treatment processes. Future water treatment processes will need to integrate circular economy concepts to obtain high-quality water and valuable products, such as precious metals, and/or produce biofuels.

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the “Secretaria de Innovación, Ciencia y tecnología (SICyT)” and “Consejo Estatal de Ciencia y Tecnología de Jalisco (COECYTJAL)” for the support received through the Convocatoria del fondo de Desarrollo Científico de Jalisco para Atender Retos Sociales “FODECIJAL 2022” (Clave del Proyecto: 10169-2022).

Supplementary Materials

The following supporting information can be downloaded at: https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/ijerph20054499/s1 , Supplementary Table S1: Comparative table of analytical techniques most used for the detection of inorganic contaminants present in water. Supplementary Table S2: Comparison of detection limits in μg L −1 at 3 sigma [ 132 ].

Funding Statement

This research received no external funding.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, A.I.Z.-G. and L.A.R.-C.; Methodology, all authors; Formal analysis, all authors; writing—original draft preparation, all authors; writing—review and editing, all authors. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Data Availability Statement

Conflicts of interest.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Review of methods for automatic plastic detection in water areas using satellite images and machine learning.

Graphical Abstract

1. Introduction

• Reducing waste entering the ocean from land—improving waste management policies;
• Identifying debris in the ocean—it allows large accumulations of plastic to be detected to identify the sources and then cleaned up;
• Cleaning the ocean of debris.
• The volume of waste generation is 65 million tons per year;
• The volume of waste generation per person is 450 kg per year;
• The volume of solid waste treatment is 18.2 million tons;
• The volume of solid waste utilization is 2.7 million tons [ 16 ].
• Physical characteristics of plastic (density and size);
• Environmental characteristics (wind, waves, current).

2. State of the Art and Outstanding Methods

2.1. criteria for choosing a satellite.

• High spatial resolution (10 m);
• Data availability;
• The orbital period of the satellite is 5 days;
• The satellite has 13 spectral bands covering visible, near infrared (NIR), and shortwave infrared (SWIR) spectra.

2.2. Examples of the Use of Plastic ‘Targets’ for Data Collection and Remote Sensing Experiments on Plastic on Water by Satellites and UAVs

2.3. features of satellite imagery processing for floating plastic detection, 2.4. methods and applications for obtaining spectral characteristics of various components of the marine environment and plastics.

• Pumice (volcanic rock).

2.5. Description of Spectral Indexes Used for the Identification of Floating Plastics

2.6. the most effective machine learning methods for detecting plastic on the surface of water, 3. discussion.

• Cloud cover. The presence of clouds in images is highlighted as a major limitation when working with satellite data in most studies [ 39 , 54 , 55 ]. Despite the fact that images are usually selected with a filter “cloudiness of <25%”, the obtained data may be insufficient [ 32 ]. In addition to clouds themselves, the classification quality can also be affected by cloud shadows, increasing the recognition error of objects in the images. In order to avoid classification errors due to clouds, three machine learning algorithms (LR, RFR, SVR) capable of generating “synthetic” pixels whose spectrum matches that of real objects were tested on Sentinel-2 images. This method can serve as a solution to the problem of image cloudiness. In addition, interference can be caused by sun glare in the images [ 42 ]. For more details on atmospheric correction of satellite images see Section 2.3 .
• Limited data availability. A few authors point out the need to expand the existing library of marine debris data [ 39 , 51 , 52 ]. In this context, “data” refers to images of various kinds of marine debris, on which machine learning models can be trained. Unsupervised classification methods are also known to be used, but their accuracy is lower than that of “learning with a teacher” (see Table 5 ). With supervised classification, user and producer accuracy is improved, but insufficient data can lead to classification errors. Researchers from different countries are calling for a global spectral database of marine debris data from around the world.
• Inability to distinguish material type. This is a limitation rather than a disadvantage. If information on plastic types in the contaminated area or for any other qualitative assessment is needed, the data obtained from satellites and UAVs should be supplemented with in situ measurements [ 56 ]. The use of remote sensing methods alone, however, can provide a comprehensive picture of the amount of pollution, e.g., to calculate the area or to construct a map of litter density [ 34 , 56 ]. If it is necessary to process images in a large volume, it is advisable to turn to machine learning algorithms in order to automate the process [ 37 ].
• Plastic accumulation. When speaking about the detection of plastic in the water area using space images, we mean its accumulation on the water surface [ 39 ]. At small volumes, it is practically impossible to identify it. This is evidenced by the studies described in Section 2.2 : the minimum size of a plastic target recognizable on the image is 1 × 5 m. At the same time, the Sentinel-2 pixel coverage should be at least 25% [ 44 ]. Taking into account the rapid pace of space industry development, it can be assumed that in the future satellites with lower spatial resolution will be launched, and then, this problem will be solved.
• Inability to obtain information on submerged litter. The use of satellite imagery has shown a breakthrough in recognizing plastic waste on the water’s surface. However, identifying submerged debris remotely is currently not possible [ 32 ]. In the context of solving this problem, it is suggested that efforts should be directed towards the timely removal of marine debris to prevent its submergence due to biofouling and decomposition into microparticles [ 44 ].
• Weather conditions can be an obstacle in the detection of debris. We are not talking here about cloud cover or sun glare but about natural oceanic phenomena, such as storms and strong winds, that can last for a long period of time [ 32 ]. This can be a serious problem for the identification of plastics in the high seas, so the focus should be on preventing debris from entering the ocean. For this purpose, it is necessary to introduce a system of monitoring waste accumulations on coastal areas, on beaches, and in river systems. These places are the primary sources of plastic entering the ocean.
• Classification errors may occur in coastal waters. This is related to the spectral response of water: deep water has a higher reflection coefficient, so plastics are distinguished more effectively and the results are more reliable [ 39 ]. In coastal waters, sand and stoniness can interfere with the detection of plastics. However, it should be taken into account that it is technologically easier to conduct a controlled experiment in the coastal area; in addition, storms and strong winds can hinder the detection of plastics at a great distance from the coast (see the previous point).
• Plastic biofouling. Plastics lose their natural properties when exposed to water for a long time: their structure, shape, and size change, and natural material accumulates on them, which changes the spectral response of plastic [ 57 ]. The studies presented in this review prove the effectiveness of solving this problem with the help of machine learning, whose algorithms are capable of automatically decoding images and recognizing suspicious objects. However, no ML model can still be put on the same level as a qualified RS specialist at the moment [ 58 ]. ML misses many debris objects, especially if they are biofouled, mistaking them for vegetation, wood, and other natural materials. Further research on improving deep learning models and expanding the database may solve this problem in the future [ 34 ].

4. Conclusions

• Collecting data on the location of plastic pollution around the world, including natural debris, to train IO models;
• Developing a global database of different types of plastic litter for deep learning;
• Developing and testing new ML algorithms;
• Creating a system for monitoring sources of plastic waste entering coastal areas, beaches, and river systems;
• It is worth considering other satellites in more detail since Sentinel only covers coastal waters and inland seas without surveying the ocean.

Share and Cite

Danilov, A.; Serdiukova, E. Review of Methods for Automatic Plastic Detection in Water Areas Using Satellite Images and Machine Learning. Sensors 2024 , 24 , 5089. https://doi.org/10.3390/s24165089

Danilov A, Serdiukova E. Review of Methods for Automatic Plastic Detection in Water Areas Using Satellite Images and Machine Learning. Sensors . 2024; 24(16):5089. https://doi.org/10.3390/s24165089

Danilov, Aleksandr, and Elizaveta Serdiukova. 2024. "Review of Methods for Automatic Plastic Detection in Water Areas Using Satellite Images and Machine Learning" Sensors 24, no. 16: 5089. https://doi.org/10.3390/s24165089

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Water Pollution Research Paper Topics

This comprehensive guide to water pollution research paper topics is designed to provide students studying environmental science with a wealth of options for their research papers. The guide offers a broad array of topics, divided into ten categories, each containing ten unique research topics. Additionally, the guide provides expert advice on how to choose a topic from the multitude of water pollution research paper topics and how to write a compelling research paper on water pollution. The guide also introduces iResearchNet’s writing services, which offer students the opportunity to order a custom water pollution research paper on any topic. The services boast a range of features designed to ensure the delivery of high-quality, custom-written papers.

100 Water Pollution Research Paper Topics

Water pollution is a vast and complex issue, making it a rich subject for research. The following list of water pollution research paper topics is divided into ten categories, each containing ten unique topics. This comprehensive list is designed to inspire and guide you in your quest for knowledge and understanding of water pollution.

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Causes of Water Pollution

• Industrial waste and water pollution.
• Agricultural runoff and water pollution.
• Household waste and water pollution.
• Oil spills and water pollution.
• Mining and water pollution.
• Deforestation and water pollution.
• Urban development and water pollution.
• Climate change and water pollution.
• Plastic waste and water pollution.
• Radioactive waste and water pollution.

Effects of Water Pollution

• Water pollution and human health.
• Water pollution and aquatic ecosystems.
• Water pollution and biodiversity.
• Water pollution and food security.
• Water pollution and climate change.
• Water pollution and economic development.
• Water pollution and social inequality.
• Water pollution and tourism.
• Water pollution and natural disasters.
• Water pollution and future generations.

Water Pollution Solutions

• Water treatment technologies.
• Waste management strategies.
• Policy interventions for water pollution.
• Public awareness and education.
• Corporate social responsibility and water pollution.
• Sustainable agriculture practices.
• Green technology and water pollution.
• International cooperation on water pollution.
• Community-led initiatives for clean water.
• Innovation and research in water pollution control.

Water Pollution Policies

• The Clean Water Act.
• The Safe Drinking Water Act.
• The role of the EPA in water pollution control.
• Water pollution laws in developing countries.
• International laws and treaties on water pollution.
• The effectiveness of water pollution policies.
• Challenges in enforcing water pollution laws.
• Policy gaps in water pollution control.
• The role of local governments in water pollution control.
• Future directions for water pollution policies.

Water Pollution Case Studies

• The Flint water crisis.
• The Ganges River pollution.
• The Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
• Oil spills: The Deepwater Horizon case.
• Eutrophication in the Gulf of Mexico.
• Microplastics in the Great Lakes.
• Industrial pollution in the Yangtze River.
• Agricultural runoff in the Mississippi River.
• Radioactive pollution in Fukushima.
• Sewage pollution in the Thames River.

Water Pollution and Public Health

• Waterborne diseases and water pollution.
• The impact of water pollution on child health.
• Water pollution and mental health.
• The link between water pollution and cancer.
• Water pollution and antimicrobial resistance.
• The role of clean water in disease prevention.
• Health inequalities and water pollution.
• The psychological impact of water pollution.
• Water pollution and food safety.
• The future of public health in a polluted world.

Water Pollution and Climate Change

• The impact of rising temperatures on water pollution.
• Sea-level rise and water pollution.
• Climate change, extreme weather events, and water pollution.
• The role of water pollution in exacerbating climate change.
• Climate change mitigation strategies and water pollution.
• The future of water pollution in a warming world.
• Climate justice and water pollution.
• Climate change adaptation and water pollution.
• The role of climate change education in water pollution control.
• Climate change policies and water pollution.

Water Pollution and Social Issues

• Water pollution and poverty.
• Water pollution and gender inequality.
• Water pollution and racial disparities.
• Water pollution and indigenous rights.
• Water pollution and migration.
• Water pollution and conflict.
• Water pollution and education.
• Water pollution and community resilience.
• Water pollution and social activism.
• Water pollution and the media.

Water Pollution and Technology

• The role of technology in water pollution detection.
• Technological solutions for water treatment.
• The impact of digital technology on water pollution control.
• The role of AI in water pollution management.
• Technology and water pollution education.
• The future of technology in water pollution control.
• The role of technology in water conservation.
• Technology and sustainable water management.
• The impact of technology on water quality.
• Technological innovation and water pollution policies.

Water Pollution and Sustainability

• The role of sustainable development in water pollution control.
• Water pollution and the Sustainable Development Goals.
• Sustainable water management practices.
• The role of sustainability education in water pollution control.
• Sustainability and water conservation.
• The future of sustainability in a polluted world.
• The role of sustainable agriculture in water pollution control.
• Sustainable cities and water pollution.
• Sustainability and water security.
• The role of sustainability in water policy.

In conclusion, this comprehensive list of water pollution research paper topics offers a wide range of options for students interested in studying this critical environmental issue. Whether you’re interested in the causes, effects, solutions, or social implications of water pollution, there’s a topic here for you. Remember, the best research papers start with a topic you’re passionate about, so choose a topic that resonates with you and start exploring.

Water Pollution Research Guide

Water pollution is a critical environmental issue that poses significant challenges to ecosystems, human health, and sustainable development. As students of environmental science, it is vital to understand the complexities of water pollution and its implications for our planet. One of the essential tasks assigned to students in this field is to write research papers on water pollution, which not only enhance their knowledge but also contribute to the collective efforts in finding solutions. In this comprehensive guide, we will explore a wide range of water pollution research paper topics, provide expert advice on choosing suitable topics, and offer valuable insights on how to write an impactful research paper.

Water pollution encompasses various sources and factors, including industrial waste, agricultural runoff, sewage discharge, and chemical contaminants. By delving into research papers on water pollution, students can gain a deeper understanding of the causes, effects, and potential mitigation strategies for this environmental concern. Moreover, these research papers serve as platforms for students to contribute to the existing body of knowledge and propose innovative solutions to combat water pollution effectively.

Throughout this guide, we will present a diverse range of water pollution research paper topics that cover different aspects of the issue. These topics will be organized into comprehensive categories to facilitate your exploration and ensure you find a subject that aligns with your interests and academic goals. By addressing topics such as the impact of industrial pollutants on aquatic ecosystems, the role of agriculture in water contamination, and the effectiveness of wastewater treatment methods, you can explore the multifaceted dimensions of water pollution and contribute to the ongoing efforts to address this global challenge.

In addition to the extensive list of water pollution research paper topics, we will provide expert advice on how to choose the most suitable topic for your study. Selecting the right research topic is crucial as it determines the scope, relevance, and impact of your research. Our expert tips will guide you through the process, helping you identify areas of interest, narrow down your focus, and ensure that your chosen topic aligns with your academic goals and research objectives.

Furthermore, we understand that writing a research paper can be a daunting task, especially for those new to the field. Therefore, we have included a dedicated section on how to write a water pollution research paper. We will provide you with a step-by-step guide, from formulating a research question to conducting literature reviews, collecting and analyzing data, and presenting your findings. Additionally, we will share tips and techniques to enhance your writing skills, improve the structure and flow of your paper, and effectively communicate your research findings.

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Choosing a Water Pollution Research Topic

Choosing a compelling and impactful research topic is crucial when writing a water pollution research paper. It sets the foundation for your study and determines the scope and relevance of your research. With numerous dimensions to explore within the realm of water pollution, selecting the right topic can be a challenging task. To help you navigate this process effectively, we have compiled expert advice and practical tips to guide you in choosing the most suitable water pollution research paper topic. Consider the following ten tips:

• Identify your interests and passion : Begin by reflecting on your personal interests and areas of passion within the field of water pollution. Do you have a particular interest in industrial pollutants, agricultural runoff, or plastic waste in water bodies? Identifying your interests will help you stay motivated throughout the research process.
• Conduct preliminary research : Before finalizing a topic, conduct preliminary research to familiarize yourself with the current state of knowledge in the field. Read scholarly articles, research papers, and reports related to water pollution to gain insights into existing gaps, emerging trends, and potential research areas.
• Narrow down your focus : Once you have an understanding of the broad field of water pollution, narrow down your focus to a specific aspect or subtopic that aligns with your interests and research goals. For example, you could explore the impact of microplastics on marine ecosystems or the effectiveness of water pollution regulations in urban areas.
• Consider the research context : Take into account the geographical context and research opportunities available to you. Is there a specific region or local water body where you can conduct fieldwork or gather data? Considering the research context can add depth and relevance to your study.
• Evaluate the research significance : Assess the significance and potential impact of your chosen topic. Does it address an important research gap, contribute to existing knowledge, or offer practical implications for water pollution management and conservation efforts? Aim for a topic that has both academic and real-world relevance.
• Consult with your professor or advisor : Seek guidance from your professor or research advisor, as they can provide valuable insights and suggestions based on their expertise. They can help you refine your research questions, identify suitable methodologies, and offer suggestions for relevant literature.
• Consider interdisciplinary perspectives : Water pollution is a complex issue that requires interdisciplinary approaches. Consider incorporating perspectives from other disciplines such as ecology, chemistry, public health, or policy analysis. This interdisciplinary approach can add depth and richness to your research.
• Explore emerging trends and technologies : Stay updated with the latest research advancements, emerging trends, and innovative technologies in the field of water pollution. Investigate how new methodologies, monitoring techniques, or data analysis tools can be applied to your research topic to enhance its impact and contribute to the field.
• Balance feasibility and interest : While it is essential to choose a topic that interests you, also consider its feasibility within the scope of your research project. Assess the availability of data, resources, and the time required to conduct research on your chosen topic.
• Seek ethical considerations : Consider the ethical implications of your research topic, especially if it involves human subjects, sensitive ecosystems, or policy-related issues. Ensure that your research design adheres to ethical guidelines and safeguards the welfare of those involved.

By following these expert tips, you can select a compelling and meaningful water pollution research paper topic that aligns with your interests, contributes to the field, and inspires you throughout your research journey. Remember that the chosen topic will shape your research direction and influence the significance of your findings.

How to Write a Water Pollution Research Paper

Writing a water pollution research paper requires careful planning, systematic organization of ideas, and adherence to academic standards. In this section, we will provide you with ten practical tips to guide you through the process of writing an effective and compelling research paper on water pollution.

• Understand the research question : Start by clearly understanding the research question or objective of your study. Identify the specific aspect of water pollution you aim to investigate and formulate a concise and focused research question that will guide your entire paper.
• Conduct a comprehensive literature review : Before diving into writing, conduct a thorough literature review to familiarize yourself with existing research on the topic. Identify key theories, concepts, and findings that will serve as the foundation for your own study. Analyze the gaps and controversies in the literature that your research can address.
• Develop a solid research methodology : Outline the research methodology that will best address your research question. Determine whether your study will involve quantitative analysis, qualitative research, or a combination of both. Clearly define your variables, sampling methods, data collection techniques, and analytical tools.
• Gather relevant and reliable data : Collect data from credible sources to support your research findings. This may involve fieldwork, laboratory analysis, surveys, interviews, or secondary data collection. Ensure that your data is accurate, relevant, and representative of the research problem.
• Analyze and interpret the data : Once you have collected the necessary data, conduct a rigorous analysis using appropriate statistical or qualitative techniques. Interpret the results in light of your research question and objectives. Use clear and concise language to present your findings, tables, charts, or graphs to enhance understanding.
• Structure your paper effectively : Organize your research paper in a logical and coherent manner. Begin with an introduction that provides background information, states the research question, and outlines the structure of the paper. Follow with a literature review, methodology section, results and discussion, and a conclusion that summarizes your findings and implications.
• Provide a critical analysis : While presenting your research findings, critically analyze the data and discuss its strengths, limitations, and implications. Highlight the significance of your findings in relation to existing knowledge and theories. Identify any areas for further research or potential policy implications.
• Use clear and concise language : Communicate your ideas effectively by using clear and concise language throughout the paper. Avoid jargon or complex terminology unless necessary, and ensure that your arguments and explanations are easily understood by your target audience.
• Cite and reference sources accurately : Give credit to the authors of the works you have referenced by using proper citation and referencing formats, such as APA, MLA, or Chicago style. This ensures that your paper is academically sound and avoids any plagiarism concerns.
• Revise and edit your paper : Before finalizing your research paper, thoroughly revise and edit it for clarity, coherence, grammar, and punctuation. Ensure that your arguments flow logically, the structure is coherent, and the writing is polished. Seek feedback from peers or professors to improve the quality of your paper.

By following these ten tips, you can write a comprehensive and well-structured water pollution research paper that contributes to the field and effectively communicates your findings. Remember to maintain a critical mindset, engage with relevant literature, and present your research in a clear and concise manner.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Microplastics in sea surface waters in the southern bight of the north sea.

• Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), Lowestoft, United Kingdom

Microplastic pollution in the marine environment is of concern, with evidence of harmful effects on marine biota and ecosystems. There is still a knowledge gap of the mass of plastics supplied to the ocean and plastics observed in the ocean, indicating a missing sink. Therefore, baseline and monitoring data are needed to inform policy and regulatory measures. The goal of this study was to collect harmonised data of microplastics from the surface of the ocean using the Neuston Microplastic Catamaran. This study shows that the surface water of the coastal ocean in the North Sea holds/sustains high concentrations of microplastic, which exceed previously recorded measurements from the North-East Atlantic and Scottish Waters, indicating that the total stock of plastics might be much higher than previously determined. Microplastics were detected in all samples with concentrations ranging from 857 to 25,462 items km −2 . The majority of microplastics analysed were fragments of polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene in the size range of 1,000–5,000 µm. Mesoplastics (>5,000 µm) mainly in the form of filaments were found with concentrations ranging from 0 to 2,139 items km −2 , and macroplastics (>5,000 µm) in the form of fragments and filaments were also found with concentrations ranging from 0 to 1,078 items km −2 . These fragments and filaments likely originate from the break-up of common macrolitter items in the environment, such as plastic bags, bottles, and fishing gears, which are commonly comprised of similar polymers to those found in the present study. Our findings demonstrate that litters of all size classes are abundant in surface water, highlighting that it is a key compartment for the transport of marine litter and should be monitored to better our understanding of the fate and danger of plastic contamination in our ocean.

Graphical Abstract .

1 Introduction

Microplastic pollution has been recognised as an increasing global environmental concern and can be harmful to marine life ( Chapron et al., 2018 ; Guggisberg and Guggisber, 2024 ). With an ever-increasing demand, plastic production exceeded 400 million tonnes in 2022 ( Plastics Europe, 2023 ). The majority of production is driven by the need for packaging (39% of production in 2022; Plastics Europe, 2023 ), leading to high polypropylene and polyethylene production. While many countries have well-developed waste management, facilities, and strive for more circular economies, much of the plastic produced eventually leaks into the environment. A large proportion of plastic litter found in the marine environment comes from land-based sources ( Andrady, 2011 ; Guggisberg and Guggisber, 2024 ) with rivers as the main transport pathways. It has been estimated that between 4.8 and 12.7 million tonnes of macroplastics flow into the oceans annually mainly through rivers ( Jambeck et al., 2015 ; Lebreton et al., 2017 ). It is also important to consider sea-based sources of marine litter, representing an important route for the entry of plastic debris into the marine environment. Sea-based sources are quite varied and include fishing, aquaculture, shipping and boating, illegal dumping, and marine infrastructures ( GESAMP, 2021 ). Marine plastic waste is varied in terms of size and shape ranging from macro (>2.5 cm), meso (>5 mm and ≤2.5 cm), micro (≤5 mm), and nano (either 1,000 nm or 100 nm according to adopted definition) from either primary or secondary sources (i.e., resulting from the degradation of larger debris). Regardless of their size, marine litter can negatively impact marine species, ecosystems ( Ford et al., 2022 ; Lincoln et al., 2023 ) with the disruption of vital economic sectors such as tourism, fisheries, and aquaculture leading to accrued poverty for individuals and communities ( Werner et al., 2016 ).

Microplastic pollution is a fast-emerging issue, and there is a lack of globally accepted protocols for the detection and analysis of microplastics, which makes comparisons between datasets difficult. In recognition of these concerns, since the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) first included microplastics in a legislative proposal, there have been an increasing number of initiatives at national and international levels to tackle microplastics as part of wider plastic pollution challenge. For the UK, the Marine Strategy ( DEFRA, 2019 ) sets out the ambition to develop a microplastics indicator in marine sediment and highlights the challenge to determine whether Good Environmental Status (GES) has been achieved because of the lack of knowledge on microplastics. The North-East Atlantic Environmental Strategy ( North-East Atlantic Environment Strategy 2030, n.d. ) includes a marine litter strategic objective to “prevent inputs of and significantly reduce marine litter, including microplastics, in the marine environment to reach levels that do not cause adverse impacts to the marine and coastal environment with the ultimate aim of eliminating inputs of litter” and regular monitoring and assessment, including the development of new common indicators on microplastics, and the development of a new Regional Action Plan for marine litter (2022) will play a role in supporting the measures and also evaluating their effectiveness. Under the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the proposal for indicator 14.1.1b under national level includes floating plastic debris concentrations, highlighting the significance of this study ( United Nations Environment Programme, 2021 ). Most recently, in March 2022 at the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-5.2), a historic resolution was adopted to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, which includes microplastics and aims to end plastic pollution by 2040. This instrument will address microplastics, including those specifically added to products, and assessment and monitoring will be required to measure its progress at a global scale.

Now more than ever, monitoring datasets and assessments of microplastics are needed to evaluate marine litter, advise policy, and inform on progress to achieving GES. However, coordinated microlitter monitoring programmes are still missing in the UK, and at OSPAR level, indicator development has mainly focussed on microplastics in sediment. Different sampling methods have hampered dataset collections, and datasets for floating microplastics have yet to be collected. Floating microplastic concentrations might be the highest compared to biota and sediment due to items entering first the ocean surface from land or ship-based sources before they get distributed or sink to the seabed.

The absence of a globally accepted protocol for the sampling and analysis of any compartment, including floating microplastics, makes comparisons between datasets difficult. While the collection of surface microlitter is usually carried out using Neuston nets in the mesh size range of 300–350 mm, other sampling gears have also been applied including underway pumping systems ( Desforges et al., 2014 ; Lenz and Labrenz, 2018 ; Kye et al., 2023 ), Niskin bottles ( Whitaker et al., 2019 ), and microplastic pumps ( Preston-Whyte et al., 2021 ). In the case of plankton nets, mesh size will also have a direct impact on the quantity of collected items with net with lower mesh sizes collecting substantially higher amounts of microlitter ( Lindeque et al., 2020 ).

In this study, we aimed to answer the research question: has the microplastic concentration of surface waters increased/changed over time in the Southern Bight of the North Sea? An in-depth understanding of the abundance of macro-, meso-, and microplastics and an understanding of the morphology (i.e., fragments, filaments, microbeads, pellets, etc.) and the polymer type is required to identify likely sources and to investigate impacts. As such, the main aim of this study was to provide a preliminary assessment of floating marine litter (macro-, meso-, and microplastics) in the North Sea and to identify potential accumulation sites (i.e., “hotspots”) to inform and guide targeted remediation of policy actions to reduce sources of marine litter for the area. Furthermore, the aim was to apply a harmonised approach for the collection and quantification of floating litter with Marine Scotland ( Russell and Webster, 2021 ) and to make it suitable for wider-scale UK monitoring programmes.

The main objectives were to i) apply a harmonised approach for the collection and quantification of floating microlitter in the North Sea, ii) identify the main plastic and polymer type present in surface water samples, and iii) compare our data with two other reported comparable data in the literature.

2 Materials and method

2.1 sample collection.

Sea surface microplastics were collected in November 2022 from 11 sites in the North Sea ( Figure 1 ) using the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science’ (Cefas) research vessel RV Cefas Endeavour .

Figure 1 . Location of the sampling sites (tows 1–11) off the East coast of England, UK during SmartBuoy (CEND18_22) survey using the Neuston microplastic catamaran.

A Neuston catamaran (Hydro-Bios; net mesh size, 300 mm) with a mechanical flowmeter (General Oceanics, 2030 and 2031 series) attached was used for the collection of floating microplastics, as it can even operate in high wave conditions compare to a manta trawl that operates best in calm conditions ( Löder and Gerdts, 2015 ). The net opening was observed to skim the top 20 cm of the surface continuously. The catamaran was towed on a 50–75-m wire, 33 m behind the boat (starboard side) to avoid contamination of oil and marine litter and waves from the boat ( Alfaro-Núñez et al., 2021 ) ( Figure 2 ). The catamaran was towed clear of the ship’s wake 33 m behind the vessel. The mean speed of the ship while towing was four knots, with a towing time of 30 min. Wave height and swell were constantly observed to ensure that the catamaran was stable on the water surface ( Figure 2 ). After each trawl, the net was rinsed from the outside with clean (no oil or litter) seawater to collect all sample in the cod end. The cod end was removed, and the sample was transferred into a large pre-rinsed glass bowl. The cod end was inverted and washed out from the outside using a small amount (<200 ml) of ultrapure water (UPW). Items left over in the net were gently removed using metal forceps and rinsed into the bowl. Samples were put into a glass container and stored frozen until further analysis.

Figure 2 . Microplastic catamaran, hulls with Neuston sampling net and cod end. Left: during deployment. Right: during towing.

2.2 Contamination control procedures during sample collection

Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the collection of water samples were developed to ensure reproducibility of sampling. Dedicated field technicians were trained using the developed SOPs to minimise field contamination during sampling. Empty, pre-rinsed reverse osmosis (RO) glass jars were also used as field blanks and were open for the time required to transfer a water sample to the clean, pre-rinsed RO glass collecting jars. Prior to use, all glassware was cleaned using a laboratory detergent and rinsed using RO water. Care was taken during the field sampling to minimise sample contamination by opening jars only for the minimum amount of time during sample transfer.

2.3 Sample processing

2.3.1 contamination control procedures in the laboratory.

The following steps were followed to minimise contamination during sample processing and analysis. All work was carried out in a dedicated microplastics laboratory at Cefas with restricted access to minimise dust contamination. Additionally, a sticky mat was placed at the entrance to the lab to remove dust from shoes prior to entry. The lab floor and benches were cleaned daily before work commenced. All glassware were precleaned using RO water while keeping the glassware upside down to minimise dust deposition and subsequently covered with RO-rinsed foil. All chemicals were previously filtered onto a Whatman 47 mm ø 0.2 µm regenerated cellulose filter (VWR, UK). All work was also carried out in a biological safety cabinet. Negative controls (i.e., blank samples) were also processed alongside the environmental samples to quantify and characterise the extent of background contamination during analysis. Field blanks were collected during sample collection to record atmospheric fallout at each station. A clean sample jar was opened for the time taken to transfer the contents of the net to a sample jar. Negative controls were representative of the whole laboratory protocol followed for microlitter analysis (i.e., from chemical digestion to filtration, etc.).

2.3.2 Marine litter extraction

Water samples were visually inspected, and larger-sized items including macro- (>2.5 cm) and mesoplastics (>5 mm to ≤2.5 cm) were removed from the sample for imaging and for attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic (ATR-FTIR) analysis (see Section 2.5 ). Samples were then sorted into two categories: low organic matter (i.e., clear samples) and high organic matter (i.e., darker, organic matter rich samples) for digestion of organic materials in the sample. Samples with a lower organic matter content were transferred into a 2-L glass beaker, and 400 mL of a 30% KOH: NaCIO v:v solution ( Table 1 ) was added ( Enders et al., 2015 ; Strand and Tairova, 2016 ). The chemicals used in this study are listed in Table 1 .

Table 1 . List of chemicals, manufacturers, and suppliers.

Samples were then incubated for 24 hat 40°C on a heating plate with a magnetic stirrer. Samples were left to settle for 1 h before filtration onto GF/D (Whatman 47 mm ø, 2.7 μm porosity) filters. Due to the large amounts of particles onto filters in some cases, some samples were split across several filters. Filters were stained with Nile red (0.01 mg mL −1 in ethanol, see Table 1 ) prior to imaging and identification using either ATR-FTIR for particles above ~500 μm or micro-FTIR for particles below 500 μm in size.

Samples with high organic content needed an additional 400 mL 30% KOH: NaCIO v:v solution ( Table 1 ) and often required a prolonged incubation time of 48 h. Otherwise, the same procedure was followed as for low organic content. When pouring the content into the filtering rig, care was taken not to pour the organic matter collected at the bottom of the beaker. To ensure that no microplastics were missed in this fraction, it was dried at 50°C, and then, 500 mL of ZnCl 2 (1.5 g cm −3 ) ( Table 1 ) was added to each beaker for a density separation. A magnetic stirrer hotplate (600 rpm, 1 h) was used to suspend the material in the solution. Samples were left to settle overnight. Following this, the supernatant was filtered onto GF/D filters.

2.4 Identification of microplastics using micro-FTIR and ATR-FTIR

Filters were visually assessed and quantified with blue and white light under a binocular microscope (MZ10F, Leica) with blue light attachment (FluoIII, CoolLED) and USB camera (GXCAM-U3PRO-20). Particles were imaged and measured using GX Capture-T (version x64, 4.10.16968.20200415).

Suspected microplastics were identified, and polymer identification was carried out following Bakir et al. (2023) . Particles over 500 μm in size were analysed using ATR-FTIR with a Thermo Fisher Scientific Nicolet iS5 FTIR with iD7 ATR attachment and OMNIC software (version 9.9.473). Prior to sample analysis, quality control was carried out with the analysis of polystyrene (PS) and polyethylene (PE) reference material. A background was collected for every 10 samples analysed. Spectra (32 scans) were collected in transmission mode in the range of 4,000–500 cm −1 at a resolution of 4 cm −1 . Polymer identification was verified based on the percentage match against provided polymer libraries (HR Nicolet Sampler Library, HR Spectra IR Demo and Hummel Polymer Sample Library). Only matches above 60% were selected for positive microplastics validation and polymer identification ( Leistenschneider et al., 2021 ).

Particles below 500 μm in size were analysed using a LUMOS II (Bruker, UK) using micro-ATR-FTIR; a liquid-nitrogen-cooled mercury cadmium telluride detector was used to identify polymer type for particles of interest. Particles were manually transferred to 25-mm Anodisc filters (0.2 μm porosity, Whatman, VWR, UK). Before attempting to analyse samples, reference polyamide (PA) and PS were analysed as a quality control measure. Spectra (32 scans) were collected in absorbance mode in the range of 4000–500 cm −1 at a resolution of 4 cm −1 . Polymer identification was verified based on the percentage match against provided polymer libraries (ATR-FTIR-Library complete, Vol. 1–4; Bruker Optics ATR-Polymer Library; IR-Spectra of Polymers, Diamond-ATR, IR-Spectra of Polymers, Geranium-AT & IR-Spectra of Additives, Diamond-ATR). Only matches above 60% were selected for positive microplastics validation and polymer identification ( Leistenschneider et al., 2021 ).

2.5 Reporting

Units for the reporting of surface water floating plastics vary according to the method applied and between studies ( Lusher et al., 2014 ; Maes et al., 2017b ; Russell and Webster, 2021 ). Therefore, there is a need for the use of a range of reporting units to allow for comparison with the wider available literature. Floating plastic items in the present study were reported per unit area (km −2 ) and per volume sampled (m −3 ) (see Figure 3 ).

Figure 3 . Comparison of microplastics per km 2 ± SD of three regional studies calculated in three different ways. Flowmeter calculated using distance based on rotations. Latitude and longitude calculated distance based on coordinates. Knot metre calculated using distance based on onboard measuring speed. Inside: comparison of microplastics per km 2 ± SD of three regional studies calculated using flowmeter.

Differences in calculation to estimate an abundance of floating plastic items were also observed between studies. In the present study, the coordinates of start and stop position and an on-board knot metre were used to measure the length of the trawl and a flowmeter attached to the bottom of the trawl mouth was used to estimate the volume of water sampled. This resulted in three different estimated microlitter abundances. First, using the distance between start and stop coordinates and multiplying this by the mouth width, the sample area was calculated. This calculation was repeated, replacing the distance between coordinates with the trawl distance calculated by the knot metre ( Equation 1 ).

Lastly, following Russell and Webster (2021) , the volume sampled was estimated. It was calculated that one revolution of the flowmeter equated to a tow distance of 0.3 m. The trawl distance was calculated by multiplying the number of revolutions by 0.3. The net mouth was 0.7 m × 0.4 m; however, the net was attached to the catamaran such that approximately half the net depth (0.2 m) was sampling the water, giving a sampling area of 0.14 m 2 (i.e., 0.7 m × 0.2 m; Equation 2 ).

The reporting of microlitter in surface waters was done according to the recent Guidance on Monitoring of Marine Litter in European Seas ( Guidance on Monitoring of Marine Litter in European Seas, 2023 ). Microlitter was reported according to EMODnet microlitter size classes ( https://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/H03/current/ ), microlitter types, and polymer types for data reporting.

2.6 Statistical analysis

The station locations were clustered into four groups (stations 1–8 and 9–11) representing regions of the North Sea ( Figure 1 ). Grouping was used to investigate whether there was evidence of differences between the regions for characteristics of microplastics, mesoplastics, and macroplastics. The examined characteristics for all three types of plastics were station densities, proportion of PE, and proportion of fragments. For concentrations, a non-parametric Kruskal–Wallis analysis of variance was used. For the PE and fragment proportions, a one-way analysis of variance but with an arcsin transformation of the square roots of the proportions was used. For macroplastics, the analysis of fragment proportion was omitted because only one fragment was found.

3.1 Contamination control procedures

The number of items in the field blanks ranged from 7 to 10 items with a mean value of 9 ± 1.73 (mean ± SD, n=3). A large proportion of items in field blanks were cellulosic based (i.e., cotton). An average of two rayon items was also detected in the field blanks, and environmental samples were blank corrected accordingly.

3.2 Monitoring of floating micro-, meso-, and macroplastics in surface waters

Macro- (>25 mm), meso- (5–25 mm), and microplastics (≤5 mm) were found at all samples under investigation (n=11) with a total of 2,526 litter items collected across all size categories. The abundance of floating plastic items increased with a decrease in size with 60 macro-, 125 meso-, and 2,341 microplastics ( Supplementary Table S1 ).

3.2.1 Microplastics

The concentration of microplastics per square kilometre of sea surface varied from 756 to 25,462 items km −2 calculated using the flowmeter ( Figure 3 ; Supplementary Table S1 ). The highest microplastic abundance was found at station 5 (25,462 items km −2 ), followed by station 6 (20,921 items km −2 ) just off the coast of East Anglia ( Figure 4 ).

Figure 4 . Map of samples and concentrations (items km −2 ) of micro-, meso-, and macroplastics. Circles indicate range of concentrations (red=highest to yellow=low).

Fragments (83%) were the most abundant morphology of microplastics present, followed by microbeads (8%), film (7%), and filaments (6%). A small number of nurdles and foam were also present ( Figure 5 ; Supplementary Table S2 ). Most particles were white in colour (19%) followed by blue (17%) followed by black (15%), green (12%), clear (11%), pink (7%), yellow (7%), brown (4%), orange (3%), red (3%), and grey (2%). Sizes of microplastics (n=2,341, 11% of total MP analysed by micro-FTIR) ranged between 142 and 4,960 mm. Most items were in the size range 1,000–5,000 μm (84%) followed by 300–999 μm (15%). The majority of microplastics were polyethylene (PE) (67%) followed by polypropylene (PP) (16%), and 8% were polyester based ( Figure 6 ; Supplementary Table S2 ). Approximately 6% of particles analysed could not be identified or were of natural composition. Microbeads were made of PE and were predominantly pink (47%) in colour, although some green (16%), blue (16%), white (11%), grey (5%), and brown (5%) ones were also present. Most fragments were PE or PP, while filaments were mainly PE, rayon, polyester based, or rubber.

Figure 5 . Percentage (%) abundance of different categories (fragment, filament, film, bead, nurdle, and foam) of micro-, meso-, and macroplastics (from outside to inside) from 11 stations.

Figure 6 . Abundance of types (%) of polymers [PP, PE, PS, Paint, Other (PA and Rubber) PVC, and Rayon) analysed using micro-FTIR for microplastic particles—outside ring (n=258). Middle ring—mesoplastic particles (n=114) analysed using either micro-FTIR or ATR-FTIR. Inner ring—macroplastic particles (n=58) analysed using ATR-FTIR. Natural items (4%) were not reported in the chart and PA and rubber were grouped as “other.”.

3.2.2 Mesoplastics

Mesoplastics concentrations ranged from 0 to 2,139 items km −2 with the highest abundances off the coast of East Anglia (stations 5 and 6), also a suspected hotspot for microplastics with substantially higher amounts of microplastics also being reported for that location ( Figure 4 ). However, no statistically significant differences between the regions were found.

Most mesoplastics were fragments (35%) followed by filaments (34%), then film (28%), and a small number of foam (2%) items and nurdles (2%) were also present ( Figure 5 ; Supplementary Table S2 ). Similarly to microplastics, PE was the most abundant mesoplastics polymer with 49% followed by PP (41%). A small number of PS (5%), rubber, and PA grouped as “other” (3%), paint (<1%), and PVC (<1%) items were also present ( Figure 6 ; Supplementary Table S2 ). The size of mesoplastics ranged from 5.01 mm to 24.01 mm.

Approximately 99% of macroplastics (n=58) were analysed using the ATR-FTIR with concentrations ranging from 0 to 1,078 items km −2 . Like micro- and mesoplastics concentrations, the highest concentrations were observed at stations 5 and 6 ( Figure 4 ). Most macroplastics were filaments (78%), with some films (20%) and fragments (<2%) also present ( Figure 4 ). PE was the main polymer found (58%) like/mirroring meso- and microsized plastics. The rest of the macroplastic items analysed were made of PP (42%). The size of macroplastics ranged from 25.35 mm to 385.08 mm.

3.3 Statistical analysis

For all of microplastics, mesoplastics, and macroplastics, there was no evidence of differences in concentration between the regions (p=0.84, p=0.26, and p=0.38, respectively). Similar non-statistically significant results were obtained for the proportion of PE (p=0.99, p=0.21, and p=0.61) for the three types of plastic. The p-values for the proportion of fragments in microplastics and mesoplastics were p=0.51 and p=0.30, respectively. Note that station 11 was not used for the proportions of PE and fragments for mesoplastics because no mesoplastics were found there. For a similar reason, stations 2, 7, 10, and 11 were omitted from the analysis of proportions of PE and fragments found in macroplastics.

4 Discussion

4.1 guidelines for monitoring microplastics.

Comparisons between datasets are still difficult, as no standardised protocols are globally accepted and applied. Global monitoring recommendations and best practices are included in diverse reports including the guidelines for the monitoring and assessment of plastic litter in the ocean ( Guggisberg and Guggisber, 2024 ), the guidelines for Harmonizing Ocean Surface Microplastic Monitoring Methods ( Ministry of the Environment Japan, 2023 ), and the Guidance on Monitoring of Marine Litter in European Seas—Update of the guidance on monitoring of marine litter for the Marine Strategy Framework Directive ( Guidance on Monitoring of Marine Litter in European Seas, 2023 ). The European Commission (2023) also recommends the use of manta trawls with nets with a mesh size of 300 mm for the harmonisation with other monitoring programmes, which is consistent with this study. While a comparison of different sampling methods (i.e., manta nets and pump systems) is underway for the UK, previous studies have shown that the sampling protocol applied can have a direct impact on the abundance of microlitter and their composition ( Lindeque et al., 2020 ; De-la-Torre et al., 2022 ; Shi et al., 2023 ). Net mesh size has also been shown to have a direct impact on the abundance of reported microplastics with an increase in their abundance with a decrease with net mesh size ( Lindeque et al., 2020 ).

For the present study, microplastics were reported according to the European Commission (2023) with the use of EMODnet microlitter size classes and morphology as specified in the method section. While the sampling of surface floating microplastics in the marine environment is already harmonised, differences in laboratory-based procedures can also impact in the reporting of the abundance of microlitter (including microplastics).

4.2 Nile Red for staining microplastics

Fluorescence tagging of polymers using Nile Red (NR) was also applied in this study to increase the limit of detection of some microliter, which would have been otherwise lost against filter background ( Nel et al., 2021 ), and to guide manual pickup of single items from filters with the priority analysis of fluorescent items onto filters. NR was developed as a low cost and fast approach for the detection and quantification of microplastics in environmental samples ( Maes et al., 2017a ). Since its development, the application of NR in relation to microplastic research has increased substantially ( De Witte et al., 2022 ; Meyers et al., 2022 ). Shruti et al. (2022) recently published a review on the application of NR for the analysis of microplastics in environmental samples including food products. While the need for standardised protocols for NR use was highlighted in the review, the authors concluded that NR tagging of microplastics was a promising approach for a low cost and fast screening of microplastics from environmental samples, especially for laboratories lacking more advanced and often costly infrastructure (e.g., pyrolysis GC-MS or m-FTIR, m-Raman facilities). NR has also previously been used for the large-scale mapping of microplastics from sediment, indicating its suitability in a monitoring context (Bakir et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2018 ; Preston-Whyte et al., 2021 ; Kukkola et al., 2022 ). NR has also been applied to the detection and quantification of microplastics in biota ( Catarino et al., 2018 ; Bakir et al., 2020a ; Bakir et al., 2020b ; Coc et al., 2021 ; Nalbone et al., 2021 ) and water ( Bakir et al., 2020a ; Preston-Whyte et al., 2021 ).

4.3 UK monitoring data

Monitoring data for the abundance of floating microplastics in UK waters are lacking, with only a small amount of baseline data currently available, and there is an urgent need to address this knowledge gap. Monitoring requires efforts and resources, so it is important to understand the policy priorities. One of these is to provide more information on sources and develop indicators that provide information closer to the source, which could enable change to be detected quicker. Available data for floating microplastics for the UK are mainly available for the North-East Atlantic ( Lusher et al., 2014 ; Maes et al., 2017b ) and for Scotland ( Russell and Webster, 2021 ) ( Table 2 ). In this study, microplastics were found in all samples analysed, indicating a widespread presence of microplastics in surface waters for the North Sea. In comparison, two sites in previous studies from the UK Channel, North and Celtic Sea had no microplastics present ( Maes et al., 2017b ), and 35% of samples from Scottish waters had no microplastics present ( Russell and Webster, 2021 ), indicating spatial differences in the distribution of floating microplastics and likely variations in local inputs of microplastics in the marine environment.

Table 2 . Mean number of items in surface waters and near surface waters per cubic metre (m 3 ) and squared kilometre (km 2 ) reported in the literature for the UK (mean ± SD, ranges in brackets).

Three different methods were used in this study to calculate floating plastic concentrations due to variations in some sampling parameters between studies. As an example, Maes et al. (2017b) highlighted the potential impact on calculations using flowmeters potentially leading to large variations in the reporting of the abundance of floating microplastics. Nevertheless, calculating distance from coordinates (latitude and longitude) relies on the ship to move in a straight line during towing. Similarly, for the calculation of distance from speed (average speed used to calculate the distance of the tows), it is estimated that the vessel maintains a constant speed of four knots during towing. This is not always possible depending on waves, vessel direction, and currents. For these reasons and to make datasets comparable to published literature, concentrations were given and calculated in three ways: flowmeter, vessel speed, and coordinates.

4.4 Abundance and distribution of microplastics

The abundance of floating microplastics ranged from 857 to 25,462 items km −2 for the present study with an average abundance of 8,740 ± 7,269 items km −2 (mean ± SD). The average value was substantially higher than the average value reported by Maes et al. (2017b) for the North-East Atlantic of 3,281 ± 4,067.34 items km −2 and the average abundance of 4,564 ± 11,351 items km −2 reported for Scottish waters by Russell and Webster (2021) ( Table 2 ). The abundance of microplastics (also meso- and macroplastics) was relatively high off the coast of Lowestoft (East of England) compared to other locations, suggesting an accumulation zone for plastics for the area. Higher abundances of floating microplastics for this area was also reported in 2011 by Maes et al. (2017b) , indicating that there is less plastic in the Celtic Sea. Regarding the mesoplastics, there were no significant differences in the floating concentrations among the sites. However, higher mesoplastic abundances were observed at the microplastic “hotspots” (East of England), indicating the potential break up of larger plastic items into microplastics (secondary microplastics) ( Thompson, 2015 ). The density of microplastics can vary depending on their polymer composition and size. In summary, high-density polyethylene ( Brignac et al., 2019 ) fragments dominate surface waters with a size below 300 µm ( Gunaalan et al., 2023 ). The polymer composition can also vary among size fractions, and as mentioned above/below, the abundance of smaller MP can be underestimated in some studies.

More baseline data are, however, needed to validate those observations (interactions between the size classes) and to identify additional accumulation zones for floating plastics for the UK. Repeated measurements in time are also necessary to understand whether those accumulation zones are permanent or transient. Higher abundance of floating microplastics for the area could be explained by local physical oceanographic processes (i.e., wind speed and currents) influencing particle retention or dispersion mechanisms and the local extent of microplastics release for the area. Similar observations in East Anglia have been made with eutrophication OSPAR assessment, where high coastal DIN and phytoplankton concentrations were found ( García-García et al., 2019 ). Ocean hydrodynamics could play a key role in the transport and distribution of microplastics in the North Sea ( Neumann et al., 2014 ). Surface currents such as shown by Thiel et al. (2011) and OSPAR (2000) could transport particles such as microplastics, up the coast from the English Chanell to East Anglia where they might accumulate.

Additionally, some accumulation zones for microplastics were also reported for Scotland with the highest concentrations recorded in the Solway and the Firths of Clyde and Forth. Higher abundances of microplastics for those areas were attributed to higher inputs from urbanised and industrial sources ( Russell and Webster, 2021 ).

4.5 Polymer type and form

PE was the main polymer type reported for microplastics accounting for 67% of the particles analysed using micro-FTIR (n=247), followed by PP (16%). PE was also the most common polymer type for meso- and macrolitter with 50% and 58%, respectively, followed by PP with 41% and 42%, respectively. A consistent proportion of common polymer types between macro-, meso-, and microsized particles could also indicate the formation of secondary meso- and microplastics from the degradation process of larger debris (i.e., macroplastics). PE and PP have been largely reported for marine surface waters globally ( Supplementary Table S3 ). By contrast, PP was the most common polymer type for floating microplastics in Scottish waters, followed by PS (12%), PVC (10%), and PE (10%) ( Russell and Webster, 2021 ), suggesting differences in local inputs for specific polymeric materials or a greater influence on transboundary floating plastic items for English and Scottish waters due to variations in transport processes.

Fragments were the most prevalent morphology of microplastics reported for surface waters with 78%, followed by beads (8%) and filaments and films (6% each). Some small numbers of nurdles (2%) and foam (<0.5%) were also present. For mesoplastics, fragments were the main morphology type (45%) but filaments (43%) and films (35%) were also present in high proportion. Filaments (47%) were the main morphology type for macrolitter. It is worth noting that due to the relatively large net mesh size used (300–330 mm), smaller filaments were most probably lost during sample collection and were therefore under-estimated in the present study. Previous studies for the UK indicated that most microfilaments had a mean diameter of ~20–30 mm ( Bakir et al., 2023 ). Interestingly, microbeads were detected for surface water for the North Sea while absent for the North Sea seafloor sediment ( Bakir, 2022 ; Bakir and van Loon, 2023 ; Bakir et al., 2023 ) and marine biota ( Gerigny et al. 2023 ), either suggesting a rapid long-range transport of those buoyant particles in the marine environment with limited settlement and interaction with biota or from transboundary inputs with the microbeads being released from other locations. Microbeads also accounted for an important proportion of microplastics reported in Scottish waters after fragments ( Russell and Webster, 2021 ). Interestingly, microbeads reported from Scotland were made of PP, while the microbeads reported in this study were mainly composed of PE, which could indicate different sources.

4.6 Transport of microplastics

Microbeads are a good indicator of the input of plastic-based exfoliants in pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) with potential release from domestic sources and effluents from wastewater treatment plants. PPCPs such as facial scrubs have been identified as potentially important primary sources of microplastics to the marine environment. Previous studies estimated that between 4,594 and 94,500 microbeads could be released from an exfoliant in a single use ( Napper et al., 2015 ). Although microbeads in cosmetics and personal care products have been banned in the UK since 2018 ( Department for Environment, 2016 ), their presence in UK waters suggest inputs from additional sources or from other locations from transboundary transport. While national policies might be effective in reducing local and regional sources of microplastics, transboundary plastic pollution could also contribute to the high incidence of microbeads collected in this study. As an example, a modelling approach using a Lagrangian plastic drift model showed that most of the studied Mediterranean countries (13 out of 15) had at least one national MPA with over 55% of macroplastics originating from sources beyond their borders ( Hatzonikolakis et al., 2021 ). Understanding transport of floating microplastics is important to identify likely sources of plastic litter and accumulation zones and to direct remediation actions at different levels (e.g., local, national regional and globally). Currents, wind, and waves are important factors that can change their short- to long-term transport including their dispersion in the marine environment ( Calvert et al., 2021 ; van der Molen et al., 2021 ). Understanding main transport mechanisms can help the development and refinement of transport models of microplastics in the marine environment. Understanding of particle-specific characteristics such as concentration, morphology, size, interaction with suspended solids and organic matter, degree of biofouling, and level of weathering are also important parameters to consider for the simulation of plastic particle transport and fate.

The identification of specific sources of microplastics from their particle-specific characteristics is, however, difficult from their small size compared to meso- and macrolitter, for which matching a material to a specific use and often specific sources (e.g., fishing gear items) is usually possible. All data are accessible via the Cefas Data Portal (DOI: 10.14466/CefasDataHub.155) abiding to the FAIR principles (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reusability), which has the advantage of worldwide visibility without barriers, and potentially leads to more citations and more impact. It also enables wider collaboration with the wider scientific community.

4.7 Comparison to other regions around the world

While the mean abundance of floating microplastics reported in this study (8,740 ± 7,269 items km −2 ) is relatively high compared to previous data for the UK, their abundance is much lower than other values reported globally ( Supplementary Table S3 ). Carretero et al. (2022) reported an average abundance of 254,000 ± 13,4000 items km −2 in surface waters off the coasts of Northwest Spain for 2017 ( Carretero et al., 2022 ). Higher abundances were also reported for the Cantabrian Sea with an average abundance of 35,000 ± 31,000 and 86,000 ± 154,000 items km −2 for samples collected in 2013 and 2014, respectively ( Gago et al., 2015 ). Higher abundances were also reported off the West coast of Portugal (2018–2019) and for the Bay or Brest (Autumn 2014) with an average abundance of 40,822.58 ± 43,578.63 and 55,255 ± 73,475 (mean ± SD) ( Frere et al., 2017 ; Rodrigues et al., 2020 ). Much higher MP concentrations were also observed in the Canary Islands with a mean of 998,075 items km −2 similar to those observed in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre ( Garcia-Regalado et al., 2024 ). As previously mentioned, additional sampling for the UK is needed, as additional accumulation zones might have been missed in this study, which would lead to higher average abundances of floating microplastics. More field studies of MP pollution on sediment, water column, and surface water in accumulation areas are needed to determine trends in this region.

Our work has highlighted that there may be higher concentrations of microplastics than previously thought, which will potentially affect future projects on risk assessments for microplastics relying on previous environmental relevant concentration of floating microplastics ( Everaert et al., 2020 ). Understanding the type of abundance of floating plastic items will also support the understanding of the type of items potentially bioavailable to marine life with links to current proposed bioindicators for floating plastics ( Rodríguez et al., 2024 ). Understanding the physical property of floating items (i.e., size, morphology, density, etc…) will also support the development of local and regional particle transport models to identify accumulation zones or “hotspots” and will help to guide policy and remediation actions.

5 Conclusion

A harmonised protocol was applied for the collection and for the analysis of floating plastic litter for UK waters for micro-, meso-, and macroplastics. This study highlighted the importance of harmonised protocols to produce robust datasets for the development of national monitoring programmes and to support policy actions. Microplastics were detected in all the samples under investigation, suggesting a widespread occurrence of microplastics in the Southern Bight of the North Sea. The highest abundance of microplastics was reported off the coast of East Anglia; however, the concentrations were lower compared to other locations globally. Fragments were the main prevalent (78%) morphology of microplastics followed by beads (8%), filaments (6%), and films (6%).

This suggests that the microplastics in UK waters mainly break down from larger items such as bags, bottles, and food containers. The adoption of surface water as a common indicator for microlitter for OSPAR environmental assessments would allow for future studies at a regional level to allow for regional action plans and risk maps. This work and data are also important at the global level to feed into and help advance the SDG indicator 14.1.1 on Plastic Litter in the Ocean.

Smaller items (smaller than 300 mm) are potentially under-sampled in surface water when they are smaller than the mesh size such as the small pink beads from cosmetics.

Data availability statement

The datasets presented in this study can be found in online repositories. The names of the repository/repositories and accession number(s) can be found below: All data are accessible via the Cefas Data Portal (DOI: 10.14466/CefasDataHub.155).

Ethics statement

Written informed consent was obtained from the individual(s) for the publication of any potentially identifiable images or data included in this article.

Author contributions

DH: Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – original draft. AM: Visualization, Writing – review & editing. JB: Formal analysis, Writing – review & editing. JR: Writing – review & editing. EN: Investigation, Writing – review & editing. AB: Conceptualization, Supervision, Writing – review & editing.

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. The authors would like to thank and acknowledge the (Defra on behalf of the) UK Government for the funding: project number GB-GOV-7-BPFOCPP in funding this work. Furthermore, the authors would like to thanks Cefas for funding this work under the Seedcorn project: project number DP2000Y.

Acknowledgments

The authors would also like to thank Rob Brooks for providing the map. Thanks to Holly Nel for data QC. Thanks to Aimee Cuskeran and Daniel Jolly for help with the sample analysis.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary material

The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2024.1430307/full#supplementary-material

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Keywords: microlitter, North Sea, marine litter, surface waters, UK, floating litter

Citation: Hoehn DP, McGoran AR, Barry J, Russell J, Nicolaus EEM and Bakir A (2024) Microplastics in sea surface waters in the Southern Bight of the North Sea. Front. Mar. Sci. 11:1430307. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2024.1430307

Received: 09 May 2024; Accepted: 15 July 2024; Published: 07 August 2024.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2024 Hoehn, McGoran, Barry, Russell, Nicolaus and Bakir. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Danja P. Hoehn, [email protected]

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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• The Process of the Water Cycle It is the primary process that drives the movement of water from water bodies into the atmosphere in form of water vapor.
• Masafi Water Company and Al Ain Water Company Manufacturing of Masafi and Al Ain Water: The resource of Masafi water is the mountain and this is why the water is rich in minerals.
• Water Transport Systems in the World The development of the three and four Masted ships in the 16th century was a major event in the history of the water transportation system.
• Evian Water Company’s Analysis Due to the popularity of its water, the company managed to expand, and in 1978, it made its way to the market of the United States of America.
• Water Advertisement The waterfall in the background reinforces the psychological need for water and adds to the freshness of the advertisement and water itself.
• Water Cycle: Lesson Plan for 5th Graders The purpose of the program is to introduce students to the water cycle systems, stages, and importance. The student should be able to define and explain the water cycle stages.
• Water Pollution: Causes, Effects, and Prevention Farmers should be encouraged to embrace this kind of farming which ensures that the manure used is biodegradable and do not end up accumulating in the water bodies once they are washed off by floods.
• The Effect of Plastic Water Bottles on the Environment In addition, the proponents of plastic use have argued that recycling is an effective method of mitigating the effects of plastic to the environment.
• The Thematic Concept in Water Names Like the narrator, a reader may think that the story presents a happy ending, as the young woman “went to join the kingdom of her beloved”. The woman wants the girls to find the answer […]
• How Does Water Hyacinth Harm the Local Ecosystem? Water hyacinth Flowers Water hyacinth has great harm on the local ecosystem and affects aquatic life and water quality. The life of other plants and animals is jeopardized by the rapid growth of water hyacinth.
• Water Resource Management: How to Save Water Resources We need to address the difficult problems of evaluating and protecting the global commons, which are complicated and interrelated while maintaining the free trade systems of the world.
• Water Cycle Process On the reaching the atmosphere water molecules bond together again and come back to the earth surface through the process of precipitation.
• Accessibility to Safe Drinking Water The first is to dig wells in the rural and arid areas to aid the people to have access to water. The other alternative is to treat water and use it in the home.
• Water: Nature’s Gift to Humanity However, the role of this element is not only in the formation of life but also its maintenance since this seemingly ordinary liquid plays an enormously essential role in the existence of the human and […]
• Environmental Impact of Bottled Water The process of manufacturing the water bottles, such as the dependence on fossil fuels, is causing a lot of direct as well indirect destructing to the environment.
• Diet and Water as an Overlooked Essential Nutrient Water is a very important nutrient in the body because it maintains homeostasis, and enhances the transport of other nutrients and minerals from their point of absorption to other parts of the body.
• Water Conservation and Drought Issues in Resorts The idea of the conservation of natural resources and water, in particular, became popular in the previous century. The understanding of the need for nature protection commenced in the 1960s.
• Sustainability: Domestic Water Usage Much of the hot water is used when cleaning and washing, with the shower making up to 43% of the 41 gallons and washing clothes making up to 29%.
• Coca-Cola India and Water Pollution Issues The first difficulty that the representatives of the Coca-Cola Company happened to face due to their campaign in the territory of India was caused by the concerns of the local government.
• Determination of Quinine in Tonic Water with Fluorescence Spectroscopy In general, luminescence is understood as the glow of substances not accompanied by heat production but initiated by the absorption of photons.
• Saving Water and Methods of Its Protection That is, the plan will effectively manage the water usage at the current state of the company as well as in the future. If protection and conservation of water is not done, there will be […]
• Water Quality Importance In a lot of areas, the water available to the public is contaminated; that is it has substances that can be of great harm to public health.
• Muslim Civilisation: The Mechanical Water Clock of Ibn Al-Haytham This forth stage is the one that determines the survival of the state, as the society is already discontented with the rule, hence disintegration of the state.
• Water Shortage’ Major Causes and Implication Summary of the article This article is a discussion regarding one major problem that is an issue of concern in the 21st century which according to the author, the world is currently facing a major […]
• Water Consumption on the Household Level The specified phenomenon can be explained by the fact that controlling the use of water in the course of taking a shower is quite complicated for most people.
• The Effect of pH on Water Holding Capacity of Chicken In the present laboratory work, the main issue is to investigate the potential relationship between WHC as a measure of moisture content and chicken pH; specifically, the question is to identify the effect of meat […]
• Dehydration and Importance of Water There are plenty of fluids in the body that mainly consist of water; one of these is saliva. Water also transports oxygen from the lungs to other parts of the body that are in need […]
• Third World War Will Be Over Water The severity of the case of water scarcity can be best explained by the inclusion of the problem of water as one of the main goals of one of the greatest development frameworks in the […]
• Modern Water Purification Methods for the Middle East In this study, we will learn about the methods of water purification and the need to purify water. The specific purpose of the study is to describe and explain the methods of water purification in […]
• Water Pollution in the Philippines: Metropolitan Manila Area In this brief economic analysis of water pollution in Metro Manila, it is proposed to look at the industrial use of waters and the household use to understand the impact that the population growth and […]
• Fiji Water Strategic Analysis The second alternative could involve the idea of putting underground and sea bed pipes to facilitate the transportation of the water commodity from Fiji to the lucrative international markets, such as the US.
• Tipperary Mineral Water Company In addition, consumers’ desire to lead a healthy lifestyle has greatly increased the market growth and demand for mineral water by a rate of 8. The main consumers of mineral water in this market are […]
• People Affected by Fires and Natural Disasters Need Help With Food, Water, Shelter Today, I would like to talk to you about natural disasters and how to minimize their impacts by contributing to charity funds, and how your contribution can make a difference.
• Synopsis of “Water” Short Story by Lee Hoffman From the story it is clearly indicated that, Evan was very disappointed with what Redmor treated the people of this area; and decided to take a ravage especially because his friend Hank was shot.
• Integrated Sustainable Water Management in the UAE The UAE Water Security Strategy 2036 was unveiled by the Ministry of Energy in 2017 to ensure that access to water during an emergency and normal conditions are sustainable within the internal standards, local regulations, […]
• Water Scarcity and Its Effects on the Environment The core objective of this research paper is to examine water scarcity and its effects to the environment. This is because sufficiency of water supply depends on water conservation methods, distribution channels available in the […]
• Seawater vs. Brackish Water Reverse Osmosis The concentrations of seawater and brackish water differ considerably; hence, there is a distinction involving the concentrate acquired from seawater desalination plants and brackish water desalination plants.
• Water-Saving Technologies in the Middle East Our planet is made of 70% water and yet most areas of the world are without water. However, to conserve the cost of this important resource, certain steps are being taken by the respective governments […]
• Analysis of Lab: Heat of Fusion of Water In this experiment, information was collected regarding the mass of the calorimeter and bowl, the mass of the empty calorimeter, the water, and the contents: all raw data are shown in Table 1.
• Rainwater Harvesting to Replenish Underground Water in India Due to the increased rates of deforestation in Rajasthan monsoon, rains started to wash down the surface levels of the soil, making the ground less fertile and eroded.
• Demo Park Water Administration Project Management In this assignment, the main areas for group work were the creation of a project plan and the identification, as well as the demonstration of its importance.
• Water’s Role in Society and Its Applications The water table is forced higher by a dam to intensify the force of the water’s descent. In the future, water should be modified to act as a source of fuel for different machinery to […]
• Water Purification in Saudi Arabia The scope of this report is to bring out all sorts of features used for water purification in Saudi Arabia and their effectiveness in providing pure water in all regions of Saudi Arabia. Desalination is […]
• The Documentary Film “Flow: For Love of Water” First, the issue in question is in direct relation to the welfare of the entire planet’s population, and the film makes a convincing case that there are reasons to worry. In the end, I believe […]
• Dubai Electricity and Water Authority’s Employees The paper will seek to determine the primary reason for the symptoms indicated by DEWA’s HR staff and to provide recommendations for action to improve the current situation.
• Availability of Water Resources in United Arab Emirates This has led to the reduction in the ground water levels and the quality of water. Rainfall is the main source of water in the United Arab Emirates.
• Roman Aqueducts “The Relevance of Water to the Social Political Climate of the Roman” The main question in this paper is: what were the names and functions of the aqueducts in ancient Rome? The need to build aqueducts in Rome was prompted by the need for mass supply of […]
• Bottled Water Industry and Aquafina Another reason of the boom in the consumption of bottled water is its taste because a large number of people prefer its taste to that of tap water.
• Providing Access to Clean Water This is why this option should be overlooked by coastal communities that can significantly increase the amount of clean water which is available to them.
• Water Quality Report: Overview Water quality reports provide information in regards to the quality of the drinking water, possible contaminants, and ways to reduce risks.
• Effect of Sea Water and Corrosion on Concrete On the other hand, substantial tautness, for instance due to meandering will shatter the tiny firm pattern, ending up in fracturing and disjointing of the concrete.
• Domestication of Water: History of Swimming Pools One of these techniques was the creation of swimming pools, special structures that hold the water and can be used for swimming and leisurely activities.
• Turbidity and Total Suspended Solids of Water: Lentic and Lotic Sites In answering the research question, the objective of the study is to compare the quality of water in the lentic system and the lotic system.
• Water Resources’ Quality in the Southwestern United States To understand the importance of the issues of drinking water quality and availability in the Southwestern United States, factors such as local climate, population changes, consumption of local and imported water, wastewater treatment, and recycling […]
• Marketing Plan for Water Sensitive Nail Polish This part presents the information collected in 2014 as the company focuses on the demand behavior of the new nail polish.
• Water Shortages in the World Management of water supply in developing countries is poor as compared to that of developed world. In addition, pollution of water in developing countries is quite prevalent as compared to that of developed world.
• Ethics of Bottled Water The manufacture of bottled water began in Europe in the 1970s. The availability of bottled water allows consumers to buy water when they need it.
• The Flint Water Crisis From Marxist Perspective To understand the causes of the crisis and ways to prevent such problems in the future, it is possible to employ the Marxist approach.
• Anomalous Expansion of Water: A Home Experiment This investigation proves the hypothesis that water expands anomalously when cooled and increases in volume as it nears its freezing point of zero degree Celsius.
• Flow: For Love of Water Regardless of the level of awareness and the intentions to study the world around, not many people comprehend how dangerous and life-threatening the lack of water can be.
• Fire and Water Symbols in “Sula” by Toni Morrison Water and fire are used by the author as symbols of destruction and purification respectively, which allows the readers to better understand the main characters in the context of the communist oppression.
• Pure Home Water Company: Business Model The implementation of the business model will make a significant impact on a serious problem of the modern world. The business model is motivated by a very strong social aim, and it should make various […]
• The Hydrologic Cycle and Water on Earth The amount of water molecules in the earth is constant although the motion of water is continuous. It flows along the eastern of the Japanese coast, bends towards the east, and completes the loop as […]
• Water Quality and Treatment The main objective of this paper is to identify the main impurities in water that pose threats to the health of households.
• Key Factors of Competitive Success in the Water Bottling Industry The introduction of enhanced or functional water products, by a number of major bottling firms such as Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, has provided further competition, threatening to squeeze profitability for them.
• The Issue of Bottled Water Consumption The steady rise in the demand for bottled water is causing hips of unnecessary garbage and resulting in the consumption of vast quantities of energy according to the report by Earth Policy Institute.
• Water Resources and Usage The stressors that threaten human water security An analysis of the worldwide status of water as a human resource has been limited to the fragments of regional and state based assessments that show varying indicators […]
• Water Distribution System in Spain The first river basin agencies were created in the Ebro basin and in the Segura basin in 1926, followed by the Guadalquivir in 1927 and the Eastern Pyrenees in 1929″.
• Water Properties as a Solvent: An Experiment Lab In the second part of the work, a mixture of 10 g of solid calcium hydroxide and 50 mL of drinking water in a beaker was initially created.
• Water Resources: History and Potential Impacts The quality of our water resources depends on many factors that include but not limited to; flows, the rate and the timing of run offs, and the ability of water sheds to assimilate wastes and […]
• Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority The subject of the contract is the performance of construction works by Contractor for ADWEA. The term of the contract includes the time needed to execute and complete all works.
• Visiting Black Rock Water Reclamation Plan Generally, it appears that the Black Rock Water Reclamation Plant seems to be one of the most interesting productions of its kind on the reason of implementation of a row of environment protecting technologies and […]
• Water Pollution in a Community: Mitigation Plan Though for the fact that planet earth is abundant with water and almost two-thirds of the planet is made up of water still it is viewed that in future years, a shortage of water may […]
• Irrigation Water Reduction Using Water-Absorbing Polymers Moreover, Abu Dhabi city acts as both the capital of the country and that of the emirate. This encouraged more people to take on agricultural activities to help boost food and animal production in a […]
• Water Billing IT Solutions Company Business Plan The Water Billing IT Solutions Company undertakes the billing and collection of water bills for different companies that outsource their services to the company in the UAE.
• Motivations to Choose Bottled Water The growth of the bottled water industry is attracting a lot of global attention because more companies are jostling to have a significant share of the market.
• Water Pollution and Management in the UAE The groundwater in UAE meets the needs of 51% of users in terms of quantity mainly for irrigation. Surface water is the source of groundwater and plays a major role in groundwater renewal.
• Water and Environment Engineering The village is situated in the Northwestern part of the state, near the seacoast. However, one of the village residents made an offer to the turtle and the latter allowed humans to use water from […]
• Fiji Water: A Comprehensive Analysis The paper is analytical in nature and it displays some of the aspects that make the product unique and relevant in the market, some of the challenges that the product’s company encounters, how the company […]
• The Water System: Rivers, Streams and Lakes The techniques used to compare rivers in the world involve an analysis of the size of the drainage area, the length of the main stem and the mean discharge.
• Water Consumption in the World The results of the investigative study into the daily water usage within households in Abu Dhabi show a mean average of 135 gallons/per day for the 15 households that were involved in this project.
• Economics of Water Bottling The ripple effects of this enterprise include the impact on local residents’ water and recreation, the health of distant drinkers of water stored in plastic bottles, the health of people living near the bottle manufacturing […]
• Como Agua Para Chocolate: Like Water for Chocolate At the end of the film, they finally find a way to be together, but after marriage Pedro dies and Tita kills herself.
• Mud Lick Creek Project – Fresh Water Pollution This potential source of pollutants poses significant risks to the quality of water at the creek in terms altering the temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, and the turbidity of the water.
• Water Quality Issues in Developing Countries According to WHO, the quality of drinking water is a foundation for the prevention and control of waterborne ailments, thus water quality is a critical environmental determinant of health for populations using the water.
• Pre-Construction Design Specifications: Water Piping Sub-System The criteria of complexity and implementation are related to the flexible PDS criteria of the system being powering set-up, repeatability of measurement, reduced temperature setup time, and progressive heating/cooling supply temperature.
• Toxicology: Is Water a Toxic Substance? It is well known that the solubility of ethanol in water is unlimited. Toxicity could be a characteristic of the formation of the reactive oxygen species which can also be present in water.
• The Physical and Chemical Properties of Water Considering the structure in the figure above, it is evident that a molecule of water has a line of symmetry that can be traced through the water molecule, acting as a bisector of the angle […]
• Natural Sciences: Water Expansion During Freezing The review of the structure of water molecules shows that it has two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen.
• Sustainable Strategies in Water Quality Control With regards to the first strategy, it is important to touch the hearts and minds of the next generation’s leaders and policy makers. They have to see and experience the benefits of their actions.
• Dialysis Water Treatment System Heat exchanger: the evaporated water from the boiler is passed through the heat exchanger where it loses heat to the working fluid/feed water in the heat exchanger.
• Can Hot Water Freeze Faster Than Cold Water? Project Goals To analyzed the mechanisms fronted in the quest to finding the cause of Mpemba effect. A data on the actual lose in volume of water need to be tabulated for analysis.
• Green Buildings and Their Efficiency Water Consumption The resources are useful in terms of provide regulation of buildings, components of green buildings, selection of green materials and where to purchase such materials.
• Causes of Water Pollution and the Present Environmental Solution Prolonged pollution of water has even caused some plants to grow in the water, which pose danger to the living entities that have their inhabitants in the water.
• Water Pollution as a Crime Against the Environment In particular, water pollution is a widespread crime against the environment, even though it is a severe felony that can result in harm to many people and vast territories.
• Trends in Water Supply and Sustainable Consumption The Netherlands is one of the countries with the best water supply in the world. The focus of this paper is to explore trends in water supply and consumption with the aim of proposing ways […]
• “Vitamin-Enriched” Bottled Water: PEST Analysis The new “vitamin-enriched” bottled water to be launched in the market requires a critical environmental analysis to guarantee its success in the realms of sales and market penetration. Recognition and ratification of technology is a […]
• Environmental Science: Smart Water Management Among the essential elements in human life is water, which is required for maintaining the water balance in the body and for cleanliness, as well as for many economic sectors, from agriculture to metallurgy.
• Systemic Effects (Risks) of Water Fluoridation: Fluoridation Assignment Fluoride contributes to teeth development depending on the site where it is applied and the mode of entry into the system. Thus, proponents argue it is one of the safest and most effective solutions to […]
• Ineffective Water Resource Management in the Hotel Industry In the context of the problem of water overuse for service production and revenue generation, the most appropriate type of assessment is a water audit.
• Innovations on Energy and Water Co-Benefits In addition, the number of harmful emissions that are harmful to both people and the planet will be significantly reduced. The introduction of social innovations is to develop strategies that will solve social problems.
• The Himalayan Melting Glacier Contribution to Water Scarcity in Mount Everest Planetary phenomena such as the tilt of the Earth, its distance from the Sun, temperature, and atmospheric cycles belong to the first category.
• Food and Water Shortage: The Negative Effects As a result, one of the biggest challenges in the 21st century is the food and water shortage, which might lead to violence and the death of many people.
• Sustaining Our Water Resources: Pharmaceuticals in Water Supply The presence of pharmaceuticals in the water supply is primarily harmful to fish and aquatic wildlife as they may impact the hormone system of living creatures, causing reproductive failure.
• The Article “Where the Water Goes” by David Owen This paper highlights misconceptions about the drying of lake Mead, the importance of the Colorado River, and the causes of its scarcity in Las Vegas.
• Cashion Water Quality: Spatial Distribution of Water Pollution Incidents This essay discusses the quality of water as per the report of 2021 obtained from the municipality, the quality issue and the source of pollution, and how the pollution impacts human health and the environment […]
• Plan Elements for Sustainable Management of Water Resources It was taken into account because it provides greater imperiousness, where the rising development of Arzaville community structures and roadways disrupts the local water cycle and floods bays and guts with significant amounts of stormwater […]
• Clouds: The Water Cycle and Social Sciences As a result, when the weight increases and the droplets grow, they are released in the form of precipitations. Moreover, the movement of the water can be applied to a sociological element.
• Water Contamination Issue in Medical Anthropology The role of water is so important that any economic or political disturbance can result in the worsening health problems of the population. The most recent and evident example of the failure in disease management […]
• Water Consumption and Sleep Hygiene Practices First, I will discuss that safe and sufficient water facilitates the practice of hygiene and well-being and is a critical determining factor for health.
• Understanding the Water Regulations in Kenya The Constitution, therefore, mandates the national government the role of ensuring that all the water resources, including the international waters, are well managed and utilized to better the lives of the citizens in the nation.
• India’s Water Supply Improvement Plan In India, the concept of a “water crisis” is firmly established, and the future of the country largely depends on how it will be possible to dispose of the available sources of fresh water.
• Water and Energy Problems in Mining Industry The goal is to find and recommend solutions for mining companies to easily access quality ore deposits in inaccessible areas. According to the second interviewee, accessibility to water and electricity are among the major challenges […]
• The Water Treatment System Project The purpose of this project was to create a water treatment system that will allow for establishing and maintaining the provision of high-quality drinking water. In turn, the second part of the project includes information […]
• Sustainable Development and Water-Food-Energy Nexus in Sweden The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations states that the securities of food, energy, and water are interconnected and depend on each other.
• Water Quality Issues: Case Study Analysis The quality of water is an essential part of the infrastructure of a city or state, which affects the health of the population and the level of well-being.
• America’s Growing Clean Water Crisis and the Resulting Diseases The current water crisis in Flint, Michigan, has focused a lot of attention on the state of water infrastructure. Lastly, there will be a not adequate amount of water to help in dissolving the nutrients […]
• The Sea Water Impact on the Human Cell Hence, consuming it causes a high amount of salt without the human cell, which leads to a steep concentration gradient within the cell, thereby causing water to be drawn out, which is detrimental to the […]
• Factors of the Water Crisis in Flint, Michigan The factors that caused the water crisis in this city can be considered negligence of the authorities, ambiguous and contradictory instructions of environmental protection agencies, and corruption.
• Increasing Global Access to Clean Water and Sanitation As noticed by researchers, innovative solutions to achieve global clean water and sanitation are needed, and the positive partnership of various organizations and groups from different spheres and levels may help with this task.
• Environmental Racism: The Water Crisis in Flint, Michigan The situation is a manifestation of environmental racism and classism since most of the city’s population is people of color and poor. Thus, the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, is a manifestation of environmental racism […]
• Flint Water Crisis: Municipal Water Supply System The city of Flint was a thriving industrial center in the third quarter of the last century; however, it had economic difficulties due to the closure of several General Motors factories in the 1980s and […]
• The Flint Water Crisis and Its Impact The contaminated water has lead to a number of diseases and disabilities, which, in turn, has left the city’s population with a large number of healthcare bills. In conclusion, the Flint Water Crisis is an […]
• Overcoming Shortage of Drinking Water It is also possible to process saltwater into freshwater, which is the most promising way to solve the problem of water scarcity.
• Financial Attractiveness of Domestic Solar Hot Water Systems: Article Review The peculiarity of the article is that the study of the authors aims to resolve urgent needs by increasing the demand for goods.
• Singapore International Water Week A good example of these conferences is the Singapore International Water Week and it forms the basis for this detailed report The SIWW 2022 brings together professionals, technocrats, and government leaders to share their experiences […]
• The Safe Drinking Water Act 1974: The Main Concept The act also directs EPA to report on the eminence of drinking water in the U. The SDWA calls for the EPA to publish an annual report on the drinking water in the US.
• The Safe Drinking Water Act 1974: Overview The main provisions in this law were to ensure that water supplied from the source to the faucets was free from natural and artificial contaminants through water treatment and consistent supply to the public.
• Is Tap Water Better and Safer for People and the Environment Than Bottled Water? In this study, I have decided to explore if tap water is better and safer for people and the environment than bottled one. Further, I will look at the impact of bottled water on people […]
• Importance of Mercury Water Pollution Problem Solutions The severity of the mercury contamination consequences depends on the age of the person exposed to the contamination, the way of contamination, the health condition, and many other factors.
• The Influence of Water Quality on the Population of Salmonid Fish It is expected that populations of wild salmonid fish may decline rapidly due to water pollution instead of farmed species because the effects of water pollution are deleterious.
• Case Study: Human Body Water Balance Sodium is reabsorbed in the thick climbing appendage of the loop of Henle. The rest of the Na+ retention happens in the distal nephron.
• Typical Reasonably Homogeneous Equilibrium in Water It is important that the diffusion coefficient used to link the iodine concentrations in one phase to that in another account for the existence of iodide and polyiodide salts.
• Creative and Critical Thinking in Case of Lack of Water In order to identify the significance of creative and critical thinking in the situation presented, it is necessary to dwell on the definition of the process of creative thinking.
• Water Scarcity in Africa and Mental Disorders Partially, the reason for the lack of meaningful changes in the policies preventing the causes lies in the social stigma towards patients with mental problems.
• Concept of Water Companies Furthermore, in this market formation, it is assumed that the prices do not control the market, which is contrary to the search for a life partner.
• The Safe Drinking Water Act: The Discussion Post The discussion post acknowledges that the Safe Drinking Water Act has remained a powerful guideline that must be followed by different stakeholders to ensure quality and clean drinking water is available to the greatest number […]
• Dehydration and Water in People’s Life It is of utmost importance since it cannot be stored in the body and replenishing of the water must occur constantly.
• Energy and Air Emission Effects of Water Supply Contemporary systems meant to heat water/air explore both the heat pumps and the solar plates that are combined to form a unit with the aim of optimizing on the energy efficiency as well as solar […]
• Adjustable Speed Drives Improving Circulating Water System This was concluded to be because of the many vortices that were generated as a result of the hindrance in the flow of water due to the shape defect.
• Oil and Water Flow in a Petroleum Reservoir While the physical model is to the scale of the original reservoir’s dimensions, a mathematical model is different. The mathematical model allows one to learn the fluid flow equation without having to develop a laboratory […]
• Behavior Change: More Water, No Coffee By the way, this was the first day when I did not feel any lack of energy due to the lack of coffee.
• Efficient Solar Refrigeration: A Technology Platform for Clean Energy and Water Refrigeration cycle capable to be driven by low grade energy, substituting gas-phase ejector used in conventional mechanical compressor.
• Salt and Drinking Water Shortage Therefore, humanity could reveal that given that the salt would not be willing to negotiate, it is possible to extort the water from the Martians as the resources of Earth are not as essential.
• Flint Water Crisis: Environmental Racism and Racial Capitalism The Flint crisis is a result of the neoliberal approach of the local state as opposed to the typical factors of environmental injustice; a polluter or a reckless emitter cutting costs. The two main factors […]
• Oil-Water Separation Techniques in Qatar’s Desalination Plants In many areas of the Middle East, the proper functioning of the vital social mechanism depends on the stable supply of fresh water.
• Annotated Bibliography on Water Management The importance of water management and its application in the oil industry is the primary focus of Adham et al.in this article.
• Recycled Water – Is It Safe for Drinking? There are a number of barriers that always work against the desire to obtain safe drinking water from recycling plants.
• Remote Sensing Monitoring the Ground Water Quality The overall view of the water quality index of the present study area revealed that most of the study area with > 50 standard rating of water quality index exhibited poor, very poor and unfit […]
• The Consequences of Using Tap and Bottled Water Using the word ‘walking’, the professor means searching for the required information, while ‘talking’ is a dialogue with the authors of the sources.’Cooking’ is implementing the information in the paper to achieve new conclusions, and […]
• Thirstier Mineral Water: Australian Market Analysis Due to the demand of the pure water, a group of students carried out research to come up with a natural drinking mineral water to meet Australian population demands.
• The Health Condition of Water Filtration for the Prevention of Gastroenteritis The medical care authorities prescribe that to lessen the danger of burning-through dirtied or defiled water is satisfactorily sifting water prior to drinking. The properties of the water channel should be checked to ensure that […]
• Marketing of the Bottled Water Industry in the US The growth of the industry can then be attributed to the level of comfort that people have become accustomed to. The bottled water industry is a feasible option for investors who would like to concentrate […]
• Proper Water Flow Requirements In order to ascertain the proper flow of water, standard typical sprinkler testing should be carried out on all the established water systems.
• Water Scarcity Problem in Sub-Saharan Africa
• Anglo American PLC: Water Usage Sustainability
• Newark Water Crisis: Water Pollution Problem
• Water Quality and the Water Board Scenario
• Water Fluoridation Plant Analysis
• Determination of M2+ Ions in Mineral Water
• House Energy Audit: Water and Energy Consumption Review for the House
• Woburn’s Municipal Water Supply System
• The Effects of a High Consumption of Water
• FIJI Water: The Leading Producer of Bottled Water
• Biorefinery Processes and Products (Microalgae and Water Hyacinth)
• Water-Absorbing Polymers: Review
• How a Desalination Plant Removes Salts, Minerals From Water
• Water for Environmental Health and Promotion
• Conventional Water Treatment
• Water Supply and Sanitation Systems Devikilum Village
• Reduced Flow of Stream Water
• “Nutrient Water” Type Drinks and Whole Milk: Evidence-Based Claims
• Women Groups in Ikombe County: Water Tanks Delivery Funding
• Parent Purchase Bottled Water
• Designing a Controlled Water Cooling System
• Warm Water and the Characteristics of Plaster
• Aquadaf Technology – High Rate Water Clarification
• Fluoride in Drinking Water, Its Costs and Benefits to Oral Health
• Water Desalination in Saudi Arabia
• Irrigation Water and Carbon Footprint
• Domestic Water Usage Monitoring System
• Nutrition: The Importance of Water for Daily Life
• Water Policy Design in Toronto
• Landscaping Membranes for Oil-Water Separation
• Water Treatment System for Saline Bores in Cape York
• Testing the Safety of Water in Canada
• The Mega Corporation: Clean Water
• Clean Water Change the Lives of People in Developing Countries
• Privatization of Water in St. Louis
• Finance for Drinking Water Infrastructure
• BP: Water Use in Oil and Gas Industry
• Water Scarcity: Industrial Projects of Countries That Affect the External Environment
• Mapping Environmental Justice: Water and Waste Management
• Virtual Water and Water-Energy-Food Nexus
• California and Water Shortage
• Water Policy: The Impacts of Water Trading
• Water Consumption by Individuals and Households
• Water Services and Fire Fighting in Maryland
• Water Service in the UK: History and Sources
• Water Distribution in California
• Bling H2O: Brand of Mineral Water
• Western Region Water Corporation’s Analysis
• Water: The Element of Life
• Water and Energy Requirements of Curcubita Maxima
• 321 Water as a Bottle With a Built-in Filter
• Energy, Water and Capital as Factors Influencing Business
• Water Purification: Process and Other Nuances
• Thomas Cole’s Revelations Through Landscape and Water
• Thames Water Company’s Pollution Issue and Ecocentrism
• Las Vegas Water Shortage
• Modern Global Issues: Drinking Water Shortage
• Sharjah Electricity & Water Authority’s Creative Improvement Strategies
• Water Pollution: OIL Spills Aspects
• Liquid Waste Disposal and Ground Water Contamination
• Polluted Water and Human Diseases
• Market Analysis of Bottled Water
• Water Efficiency in Food Production: Food Security, and Quality of Life
• Food Distribution and Water Pollution
• Water, Energy and Food Sustainability in Middle East
• Food and Water Access. Human Security Perspective
• Environmental Policy: Water Sanitation
• Masafi Alkalife pH9 Water Advertisement
• The Ongoing Problem of Lead in Drinking Water in Newark, New Jersey
• Jordan’s Water Crisis and Response
• Water and Its Role in Biochemical Processes
• Baja California Water Crisis and Its Impact
• Columbia Roxx Water Company: Operations and Management Plan
• Water Shortage in Somalia: Reasons and Solutions
• Dubai Electricity and Water Authority’s Internship
• Fiji Water’ Environmental Effects
• Bolivian Water Price Determination
• Energy and Water Projects in the Middle East and North Africa
• Public Water Supply System in New York
• Website Usage: Bottled Water Company in Nigeria Case
• All the Water on Europa: Astronomy Picture of the Day
• Battled Water and Jewelry: Product Analysis
• Water Management: Soft-Path Approach in Abu Dhabi
• Integrated Sustainable Water Resource Management
• Heavy Crude Oil Emulsification in Water
• Year-Round Water Access in South Asian Countries
• Dubai Electricity and Water Authority: Sustainable Management
• Dubai Electricity and Water Authority’s Strategic Options
• Best Water Management Practices
• Water Management: Best Practices
• Water Maze Experiment for Hydergine Drugs Testing
• Privatized Kuwaiti Ministry of Electricity and Water
• Abu Dhabi Climate, Water Usage and Food Production
• Chemical Contamination of Ground or Surface Water
• Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and Water Quality
• Dubai Electricity and Water Authority’s Tech Innovations
• Dubai Electricity & Water Authority’s Asset Lifecycle
• Dubai Electricity & Water Authority’s Cost Management
• Drinking Water Distribution System
• The Chippewa Cree Tribe’s Water Rights
• Tribal Water Rights and Influence on the State Future
• Water Quality as a Concern for Urban Areas
• Solar-Powered Water Cooler System
• How Saudi Arabia Can Overcome Economic Water Crisis?
• Water Pollution and Associated Health Risks
• California Water Shortages and Long-Term Solutions
• Lake Erie Water Pollution
• Dubai Electricity and Water Authority: Consultation
• Preserving of the Drinkable Water Worldwide
• American Water Company: Users and Systems Specialists Role
• Water Price Hike and Its Effects on the UK Economy
• Water Crisis Resolution and Investments
• Food and Water Quality Testing Device
• UAE Federal Electricity and Water Authority’s Policies
• Water and Soil Resources Issues in the Middle East
• Mountain Valley Spring Water Advertising
• Sunflower Plant Growth With Minimal Water Requirements
• Water & Air Pollution and Health Issues in Brazil
• Pure Home Water Company’s Environment
• Disposable Water Bottle Usage by Youth Population
• The Gardens of Islam: Water and Shade
• Water Cycle and Environmental Factors
• Potable Water Supply in the Gulf Region
• The Jordan River Water Issues and Hydropolitics
• Water-Energy Nexus Explained
• Water Pollution in the US: Causes and Control
• Water Control Issue in the United Arab Emirates
• Food and Water Waste Disposal in NYC
• The Water Cube Project and Design-Build Approaches
• Dubai Electricity and Water Authority: Employee Performance
• Importance of Water in Economics: Uses, Pollution, and Sustainable Growth
• Barwon Water Company’s Management and Service Analysis
• Water Transportation Industry’s Impact on Wildlife
• The Nile River: Water Issues and Hydropolitics
• Water Crisis, Oceans and Sea Turtles Issues
• Sharjah Electricity & Water Authority’s Customer Satisfaction
• Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority’s Pre-Assessment Audit
• EPA Rules Effect on Perchlorate in Drinking Water
• Quality Management of the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority
• Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Company’ Demand Forecasting
• Environmental Health: Lead Exposure in Water
• Water Yield Re-Estimation From the Catchment Due to Bushfire
• The Human Right to Water: History, Meaning and Controversy
• The Water Nexus Model in the UAE
• Water Related Conflicts in Africa
• Clean Water Problem in Singapore
• Water Paradox: “The Wealth of Nations” by Adam Smith
• Water Scarcity, Marketing, and Privatisation
• Reduce Chemical Spills by Using Green Water Purification
• Reducing Chemical Contamination on Water
• Effective Methods to Increase Water Quality
• Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority’ Quality Planning
• Water Resources Ecology: Current Issues and Strategies
• Blue Gold: World Water War Documentary
• Thirstier Mineral Water – Marketing
• Safe Drinking Water Importance
• Mars: Water and the Martian Landscape
• Saving Energy Systems: Water Heater Technology
• Jordan River’ Water Issues and Hydropolitics
• Water Symbolism in Christianity and Islam
• Banning Hosepipe Use as a Poor Solution to a Water Shortage
• Criminology: Water Boarding Torture
• Blue Gold: Global Water Crisis
• City of Newark Public Water Supply System
• Irrigation and Sustainable Water Use for Improved Crop Yield
• Water Distribution in Boston
• Environmental Studies: Water Contamination in China
• Is Bottled Water Ethical?
• Kantian Perspective on Water Privatisation
• Water Purification Process
• Water Quality & Drinking Water Treatment
• Kant’s Philosophy: Water and Ethics
• Water Pollution and Its Challenges
• The Three Methods of Water Supply
• Management of Water Supply Projects in Malaysia
• Drinking and Bathing Water in Sabah
• Project Management: Sydney Water Company
• Perchlorate in Drinking Water
• Impact of PPP Projects in Energy and Water Sectors in the MENA Region
• Potential Reduction in Irrigation Water Through the Use of Water-Absorbent Polymers in Agriculture in UAE
• Water Pollution Sources, Effects and Control
• Water Resources Deterioration Consequences in the GCC Countries
• Society’s Impact on Water Recourses
• Effects of Lead and Lead Compounds on Soil, Water, and Air
• Knowledge Management: Maroochy Water Services
• Promotional Strategy for the New Water Based Theme Park in Darling Harbor
• Fiji Water Report
• Marketing Strategy for Bottled Water in Hong Kong
• Water Boarding as a Form of Criminal Interrogation in the US
• Scarcity of Water in Saudi Arabia, Africa and Australia
• The Ancient and the Medieval Worlds: The Use of Water Power
• Power Water Corporation (PWC): Compiling a Business Strategy
• British Petroleum Company: Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
• Chloramine Breakdown in Drinking Water and Possible Consequences
• Water Management in Houston
• Cold Water Creek Comprehensive Case
• “Water and Pollution” Class Game
• Global Water Scarcity Causes and Solutions
• Technologies in Improving Air Quality Management Due to Waste Water
• Environmental Justice and Water: Quality, Affordability and Sustainable Use. Facing the Dilemmas of the XXI Century
• Water in Crisis: Public Health Concerns in Africa
• Water War in the Middle East
• Reclamation of Grey Water & Refinery Oily Wastewater Using Bioprocesses Treatment
• Factors Affecting Access to Water Resources in South Asia, the Middle East and the Nile River Basin
• Water War in Bolivia
• Bottled Water: Tropical Spring Water Company
• Protecting Water Resources in South Asia
• Water Wars in Bolivia
• Political Ecology and Water Resources
• Design Systems. Water Supply & Sanitation
• Drinking Water and Culture in the Valley of Mexico
• Water Usage in University of Ottawa
• Air and Water Pollution
• Fiji Water Company Analysis
• Critical Book Analysis – Blue Gold: The Battle Against Corporate Theft of the World’s Water by Maude Barlow and Tony Clarke
• The Planning Action to Bring Water to the Town Population
• The “Bling H2O” as the Luxury Bottled Water
• Privatization of the World’s Water and Wars of Water
• The Effect of Animal Reburial on the Soil Structure and Water
• Analysis of High Recovery Brackish Water Desalination Processes using Fuel Cells by Rajindar Singh
• The Entrance of Bling H2O Into the Bottled Water Market
• Australian, Perth Water Supply Crisis
• Bottled Water Effect on Environment and Culture
• Environmental and Cultural Impact of Bottled Water
• The Privatization or Commodification of Water
• Western Water Company Overview
• Water Resources in Economic
• Water Regional Police Services Project Implementation
• Biblical Living Water Explained
• The Global Water Shortage
• Water Consumption in the UAE: Analyzing the Past Mistakes, Designing the Future Strategy
• Fat- and Water-Soluble Vitamins
• Mineral and Water Function
• Water Balance in Berkeley and Terre Haute
• Water Pollution & Diseases (Undeveloped Nations)
• Trend Analysis: Water Scarcity Issue
• Water and Water Pollution in Point of Economics’ View
• Safety of Recycled Water for Drinking
• Diffusion of Water as the Important Factor in the Development Egypt and in United States
• Environmental Justice Issues Affecting African Americans: Water Pollution
• Threats to Water Availability in Canada
• Dubai Water & Electricity Company
• Pesticide Usage and Water Scarcity
• Why the Water Bears are the Most Appropriate Animals to Send to Mars for Human Research
• Water Pollution and Wind Energy
• Description of the Water Resource Problem (Origins)
• Air and Water Pollution in Los Angeles
• Classification of Water-Related Diseases
• Water Pollution Causes and Climate Impacts
• Company Profile: Western Water
• Water Crisis in UAE
• Water Pollution Origins and Ways of Resolving
• Comparison of Secondary and Tertiary Waste Water Management
• Housing; Safety of Beach Water Users
• Water Distribution System in Boston
• Water Resources Management
• Does Salt Affect the Freezing Point of Water?
• What Is the Biggest Problem Concerning Water Today?
• Does Too Much Water Help Plants Grow More Rapidly?
• How Can Leaders Tackle With Water Pollution in China?
• How Are Farmers Growing More Crops With Less Water Than Before?
• What Is the Healthiest Type of Water to Drink?
• How Does Human Activity in Watersheds Affect the Water Quality of Lakes?
• Will We Ever Run Out of Water?
• How Does the Temperature of Water Affect How Fast Sugar Can Dissolve?
• How Harmful Can Bottled Water Be?
• What Factors Affect the Cooling of Hot Water in a Container?
• What Are the Two Main Problems With Water?
• Why Diverting Water From the Great Lakes Region Is a Bad Idea?
• What Are the Benefits of Drinking Water?
• How Much Water Should People Drink?
• Why Bottled Water Should Be Free?
• What Is the Proper Way to Drink Water?
• What Is the Best Time to Drink Water?
• Who Is the Biggest Water Company?
• What Are the Challenges for Water Industry?
• What Is the Value of the Water Industry?
• Why Do 785 Million People Lack Access To Clean Water?
• What Is the Best Selling Water?
• Which Type of Water Is the Purest and Safest To Drink?
• How Are Water Companies Funded?
• How Does Drinking Water Pollution Impact the World?
• Air Pollution Research Ideas
• Environment Research Topics
• Agriculture Essay Ideas
• Environmental Protection Titles
• Climate Change Titles
• Hazardous Waste Essay Topics
• Hygiene Essay Topics
• Oceanography Research Ideas
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2024, March 4). 469 Water Essay Topic Ideas & Examples. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/water-essay-topics/

"469 Water Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." IvyPanda , 4 Mar. 2024, ivypanda.com/essays/topic/water-essay-topics/.

IvyPanda . (2024) '469 Water Essay Topic Ideas & Examples'. 4 March.

IvyPanda . 2024. "469 Water Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." March 4, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/water-essay-topics/.

1. IvyPanda . "469 Water Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." March 4, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/water-essay-topics/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "469 Water Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." March 4, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/water-essay-topics/.