title: Measurement of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in plastic resin pellets from remote islands: toward establishment of background concentrations for International Pellet Watch.
abstract: Plastic resin pellets collected from remote islands in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans and the Caribbean Sea were analyzed for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dichloro-diphenyltrichloroethane and its degradation products (DDTs), and hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs). Concentrations of PCBs (sum of 13 congeners) in the pellets were 0.1-9.9 ng/g-pellet. These were 1-3 orders of magnitude smaller than those observed in pellets from industrialized coastal shores. Concentrations of DDTs in the pellets were 0.8-4.1 ng/g-pellet. HCH concentrations were 0.6-1.7 ng/g-pellet, except for 19.3 ng/g-pellet on St. Helena, where current use of lindane is likely influence. This study provides background levels of POPs (PCBs<10 ng/g-pellet, DDTs <4 ng/g-pellet, HCHs <2 ng/g-pellet) for International Pellet Watch. Sporadic large concentrations of POPs were found in some pellet samples from remote islands and should be considered in future assessments of pollutants on plastic debris.
authors.affiliation: Surfrider Foundation, Oahu, HI, USA.
authors.forename: Marvin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Heskett
authors.forename: Hideshige
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takada
authors.forename: Rei
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yamashita
authors.forename: Masaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yuyama
authors.forename: Maki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.forename: Yeo Bee
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Geok
authors.forename: Yuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ogata
authors.forename: Charita
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kwan
authors.forename: Angelika
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Heckhausen
authors.forename: Heidi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: Taj
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Powell
authors.forename: Carey
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Morishige
authors.forename: Doug
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Young
authors.forename: Hugh
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Patterson
authors.forename: Bryson
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Robertson
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bailey
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mermoz
mesh_terms: D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005843:Geography; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D010969:Plastics / Q000737:chemistry*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D010969:Plastics; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical