Brosura plastic

Plastic consumption
The annual global production of plastic has increased from around 5 million tons during the 1950s to
over 280 million tons today.
There are many different types of plastics whereof Polyethylene (PE) and Polypropylene (PP) are the
most commonly produced ones.
Plastic is a cheap and long lasting material with a wide range of applications. Plastic is of particular
environmental concern due to the mass production, careless handling such as littering by the public and
its slow degradation in the nature.
Marine Litter
Different types of litter can be found in the marine environment. It is estimated that marine litter
consists of 60 – 80% of plastics and most of it is very small (< 5 mm). Sources include a variety of land
and sea based sectors such as fisheries and shipping (e.g. netting, ropes) and retail (e.g. plastic bottles,
bags and packaging). Over time larger items break down into smaller particles and the slow degradation
results in high persistence of plastic litter especially at the sea floor.
Cosmetics and personal care products
Microplastics of different sizes and functions are applied in a variety of cosmetics e.g. as abrasives in
exfoliators or as fi lm forming, bulking or viscosity controlling agents in body lotions, facial creams and
make-up. The plastic ingredients content varies between 1% and 90% in products and microplastics from
‘rinse off’ products get fl ushed to wastewater streams.
A study of the Baltic Sea Region revealed that annually 130 tons of microplastics from care products are
fl ushed down the household drains and, due to ineffective fi ltering by sewage treatment plants, up to
40 tons of microplastics end up in the Baltic Sea.

Polyetilene
Polypropylene
Polyethylene-terephthalate
Nylon-12
Nylon-6
Polyurethane Acrylates Copolymer I

What we want:
• Ban microplastics from consumer care products by law
• Set up EU marine litter reduction target of 50% by 2025
• Baltic Sea States fully implement HELCOM Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter, applying innovative
and radical reduction strategies.
What can you do?
• Recycle your plastic garbage
• Avoid products containing microplastics
• Join beach cleanups
• Support NGOs in their work combating marine litter.
 Microplastics
Microplastics are defined as plastic particles smaller than 5 mm originating from a variety of sources
broadly classifi ed as primary and secondary.
Primary microplastics are deliberately manufactured and secondary microplastics are broken down
products of lager plastic debris (> 5 mm). Sources of microplastics are larger plastic items, detergents,
personal care products, medicines and textiles. The pathways to the marine environment are through
fragmentation, sewage and storm water. The microplastics contamination in the marine environment is
of great concern because it is widely distributed in the environment and hard to remove, as well as, the
plastics can transfer hazardous chemicals.
Toxicological effects
Beside physiological effects of microplastic ingestion are plastics known to accumulate metals and
persistent organic pollutants (POPs) on the particle surface from the surrounding seawater.
Those pollutants can also be transferred from plastic to organisms by ingestion and because of its fat
solubility with the risk to accumulate in the fat tissues of marine organisms and to enter therewith the
food web.
Ecological consequences Environmental pollution by plastic is an emerging global threat to marine biota.
Impacts of plastics on the marine life range from injury to death of marine birds, mammals and fi sh
mostly as a result of entanglement or ingestion. Microplastics have already been found in zooplankton,
mussels, worms, fi sh and seabirds.
Low density microplastics are frequent in the upper water column and thus, available for small fi shes
and zooplankton. High density microplastics sink to the ocean fl oor and become available for benthic
animals such as worms and mussels. However, the smaller the particles, the greater chance that
organisms ingest the microplastics passively or by mistaking it for natural prey. For instance, smaller
particles can accumulate in tissues and may cause disruption of physiological processes. Once ingested,
microplastics can be transferred along the food chain to other marine animals, and potentially, even to
humans.

Unele dintre principalele surse de microplastice includ produse de îngrijire personală și

îmbrăcăminte. Microplasticele sunt introduse în mod deliberat în aceste produse și, pe măsură ce se
obișnuiesc și se spală, aceste materiale plastice trec în sistemul de canalizare înainte de a-și găsi în
cele din urmă drumul în mediul marin.
 Din păcate, stațiile de tratare a apelor uzate nu le pot filtra, deoarece sunt atât de mici și nu există
nicio modalitate de a le îndepărta odată ce intră în sistemul de apă.
Statiile de epurare elimina, in functie de tehnologia folosita doar intre 90-95% din microplasticele
care se gasesc in apele uzate. Cele mai performante statii de epurare ar putea elimina pana la 99%
din microplasticele existente in apele uzate. Dar acele cateva procente care nu se pot elimina
inseamna sute de mii de m3 de deversati in apele fluviilor sau apa marii. Deci se poate spune ca
printer cele mai mari surse de poluare cu microplastice sunt statiile de epurare a apelor uzate.