[en] Plastic pollution is now pervasive in the Arctic, even in areas with no apparent human activity, such as the deep seafloor. In this Review, we describe the sources and impacts of Arctic plastic pollution, including plastic debris and microplastics, which have infiltrated terrestrial and aquatic systems, the cryosphere and the atmosphere. Although some pollution is from local sources — fisheries, landfills, wastewater and offshore industrial activity — distant regions are a substantial source, as plastic is carried from lower latitudes to the Arctic by ocean currents, atmospheric transport and rivers. Once in the Arctic, plastic pollution accumulates in certain areas and affects local ecosystems. Population-level information is sparse, but interactions such as entanglements and ingestion of marine debris have been recorded for mammals, seabirds, fish and invertebrates. Early evidence also suggests interactions between climate change and plastic pollution. Even if plastic emissions are halted today, fragmentation of legacy plastic will lead to an increasing microplastic burden in Arctic ecosystems, which are already under pressure from anthropogenic warming. Mitigation is urgently needed at both regional and international levels to decrease plastic production and utilization, achieve circularity and optimize solid waste management and wastewater treatment.
Precision for document type :
Review article
Disciplines :
Environmental sciences & ecology
Author, co-author :
Bergmann, Melanie ; Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Bremerhaven, Germany
Collard, France ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de chimie (sciences) > Chimie analytique inorganique ; Norwegian Polar Institute, Fram Centre, Tromsø, Norway
Fabres, Joan ; GRID-Arendal, Arendal, Norway ; SALT, Svolvær, Norway
Gabrielsen, Geir W.; Norwegian Polar Institute, Fram Centre, Tromsø, Norway
Provencher, Jennifer F.; National Wildlife Research Centre, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Ottawa, Canada
Rochman, Chelsea M.; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
van Sebille, Erik ; Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands ; Freudenthal Institute, Faculty of Science, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
Tekman, Mine B.; Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Bremerhaven, Germany
This work contributes to the Pollution Observatory of the Helmholtz Association-funded programme FRAM (Frontiers of Arctic Marine Monitoring), which funded M.B.T. M.B. is funded by the PoF IV program “Changing Earth - Sustaining our Future” Topic 6.4 of the German Helmholtz Association and E.v.S. was supported by the European Research Council (TOPIOS, grant no. 715386). This publication is Eprint ID 54388 of the Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung. This work contributes to the Pollution Observatory of the Helmholtz Association-funded programme FRAM (Frontiers of Arctic Marine Monitoring), which funded M.B.T. M.B. is funded by the PoF IV program “Changing Earth - Sustaining our Future” Topic 6.4 of the German Helmholtz Association and E.v.S. was supported by the European Research Council (TOPIOS, grant no. 715386). This publication is Eprint ID 54388 of the Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung.
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