Microplastics: Marine Food Webs, Ecotoxicology, and Global Mitigation

Learning Goal: Analyze the sources, chemical degradation pathways, ecological impacts, and mitigation strategies of microplastic pollution in global marine food webs.

  • Prerequisites: Introductory Biology and General Chemistry (specifically organic chemistry basics).
  • Estimated Total Study Time: 12 Hours

Module 1: Foundations of Microplastics

This module establishes the core scientific principles of polymer chemistry and environmental degradation. You will learn the mechanical and chemical processes that break down synthetic plastics, distinguish between primary and secondary microplastics, and explore why traditional plastics resist natural biological decomposition.

Recommended Videos

Microplastics are everywhere | Sarah Dudas | TEDxBinghamtonUniversity
Microplastics are everywhere | Sarah Dudas | TEDxBinghamtonUniversity
@TEDx00:47100,893
Microplastics are everywhere | Sarah Dudas | TEDxBinghamtonUniversity

Microplastics are categorized into two types: primary and secondary. Primary microplastics are plastics engineered to be small from the start, including microbeads (now banned in many countries), synthetic fibers in cosmetics like mascara, polystyrene beads used for stuffing and flotation, nurdles (plastic resin pellets used to make various products), and glitter. Secondary microplastics form when larger plastic items break down over time into fragments, films, and fibers.

@TEDx · 00:47
  • Why this video: Dr. Sarah Dudas provides an excellent, concise framework of the two main categories of microplastics: engineered primary microplastics (like microbeads and synthetic fibers) and secondary microplastics resulting from fragmented macro-debris.
Mod-01 Lec-30 lecture-30-Environmental Degradation of Polymers
Mod-01 Lec-30 lecture-30-Environmental Degradation of Polymers
@iit10:361,772
Mod-01 Lec-30 lecture-30-Environmental Degradation of Polymers

Polymers degrade through multiple pathways: biodegradation (microorganisms), photodegradation (radiation), oxidation (oxidizing agents), hydrolytic degradation (acids/alkalis), and chemical degradation. Biodegradation occurs aerobically (producing CO2, water, biomass) or anaerobically (producing methane). Microbial colonization depends on surface energy and contact angle—polymers with angles below 90° (containing ester, ether, hydroxyl, or amide groups) are more susceptible. Pure hydrocarbons li

@iit · 10:36
  • Why this video: This academic lecture fills a critical technical gap. It explains the exact chemical pathways of polymer degradation—specifically thermal degradation, photo-oxidation via UV radiation, mechanical friction, and hydrolytic pathways. This provides the chemistry background required to understand how complex chains break down.
S.3.2 What makes a Polymer Biodegradable ? [SL IB CHEMISTRY]
S.3.2 What makes a Polymer Biodegradable ? [SL IB CHEMISTRY]
@ibchemvids03:481,272
S.3.2 What makes a Polymer Biodegradable ? [SL IB CHEMISTRY]

Polymers degrade through hydrolysis, where water molecules break ester or amide linkages by adding hydrogen to one side and oxygen to the other, regenerating original monomer units. This process is reversible during polymer synthesis (water is produced) and degradation (water is consumed). Plastics also degrade biologically through bacterial/fungal action and physically via UV light breaking chemical bonds or abrasion. Creating biodegradable polymers often requires compromising material properti

@ibchemvids · 03:48
  • Why this video: This chemistry-focused guide breaks down polymer structures at a molecular level. It demonstrates how hydrolysis reactions break ester or amide linkages in biodegradable polymers, contrasting them with the highly stable, non-hydrolyzable carbon-carbon backbone of petroleum-based plastics.
Microplastic Pollution: The Big Problem with Tiny Plastic, Everyday Environment
Microplastic Pollution: The Big Problem with Tiny Plastic, Everyday Environment
@UIExtension01:433,842
Microplastic Pollution: The Big Problem with Tiny Plastic, Everyday Environment

Microplastics are categorized into two types based on their origin. Primary microplastics are manufactured in their final small form, including production pellets called nurdles (used as raw material for molded plastics) and microbeads (previously common in personal care products like scrubs). Secondary microplastics form when larger plastics break down into smaller pieces through weathering, such as fragments from degraded water bottles, plastic film, styrofoam pieces, and synthetic fibers shed

@UIExtension · 01:43
  • Why this video: This video introduces industrial "nurdles" (pre-production plastic pellets) and secondary fibers, offering a visual bridge between polymer manufacturing, consumption patterns, and environmental fragment pathways.

Independent Study Note (Curriculum Gap): While the recommended videos offer solid academic foundations, you should independently research the molecular structures of Polyethylene (PE), Polypropylene (PP), and Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) to understand how their molecular weights and lack of functional groups shield them from microbial enzymes.

Knowledge Checkpoint

  • Can you explain the chemical difference between photodegradation (UV-mediated bond cleavage) and biodegradation (enzymatic breakdown)?
  • What are the primary industrial uses of nurdles, and how do they differ from secondary microplastics?
  • How does hydrolysis break ester and amide linkages in a polymer, and why is this reaction impossible for pure hydrocarbon chains like polyethylene?

Module 2: Transport and Distribution in Marine Environments

This module covers oceanography, tracing how microplastics travel from land-based municipal sewers and river basins to global marine sinks. You will study wind-driven surface currents, global thermohaline circulation, and the physical mechanisms that form ocean gyres.

Recommended Videos

Ocean Plastics Pollution: From Sources to Solutions - Kara Lavender Law
Ocean Plastics Pollution: From Sources to Solutions - Kara Lavender Law
@mblwoodshole01:03288
Ocean Plastics Pollution: From Sources to Solutions - Kara Lavender Law

Numerical ocean models demonstrate how plastic debris distributes globally. When simulated plastic debris is released evenly across the ocean surface and ocean currents are activated, materials accumulate in the subtropical gyres where currents converge and slow down. These regions function as 'oceanographic dead-ends' where passively drifting materials like plastics accumulate. The correspondence between model predictions and actual field measurements from the Sea Education Association confirms

@mblwoodshole · 01:03
  • Why this video: Dr. Kara Lavender Law presents numerical ocean models demonstrating the global distribution and accumulation patterns of plastic debris. This introduces the application of quantitative modeling to marine pollution tracking.
Where Is The Biggest Garbage Dump On Earth?
Where Is The Biggest Garbage Dump On Earth?
@BrainStuffShow04:03599,760
Where Is The Biggest Garbage Dump On Earth?

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the world's largest garbage dump, located in the North Pacific Ocean where ocean currents and global winds create rotating gyres that trap plastic debris. Discovered in 1997 by Charles Moore, this massive accumulation consists of two smaller patches connected by a 6,000-mile subtropical convergence zone. Approximately 80% of oceangoing trash is plastic, which takes about 500 years to degrade through photodegradation into smaller particles called nurdles or 'mer

@BrainStuffShow · 04:03
  • Why this video: This video clarifies common misconceptions about ocean garbage patches, explaining that they are not solid islands of trash, but vast "plastic smogs" of suspended microplastics trapped inside rotating current systems called gyres.
Factors causing ocean water currents detailed explanation with Animation for UPSC
Factors causing ocean water currents detailed explanation with Animation for UPSC
@zetaupsc10:124,463
Factors causing ocean water currents detailed explanation with Animation for UPSC

Wind is the most important factor causing ocean currents. When wind flows over seawater, friction causes surface water to move, with deeper layers moving at progressively lower velocities. Only surface waters (10% of ocean water) are affected by wind, while 90% is moved by deep currents. Permanent winds like trade winds (east to west) and westerlies (west to east) determine current directions. Monsoon winds cause seasonal changes. Earth's rotation affects currents through inertia (causing Wester

@zetaupsc · 10:12
  • Why this video: An in-depth physics lesson on the generation of ocean currents. Understanding the forces of wind friction, temperature, salinity gradients, and the Coriolis effect is essential to analyzing where and why microplastics aggregate globally.
Ocean Sciences Meeting 2020 Science Plenaries: Heidi Sosik and Erik van Sebille
Ocean Sciences Meeting 2020 Science Plenaries: Heidi Sosik and Erik van Sebille
@AGUvideos16:011,492
Ocean Sciences Meeting 2020 Science Plenaries: Heidi Sosik and Erik van Sebille

This section presents Lagrangian oceanography as a powerful framework for understanding how ocean currents move substances around the globe. Lagrangian particle tracking involves releasing virtual particles at specific locations and tracking their movement with ocean currents. A 1995 simulation showed a single particle released off Chile crossing the entire Pacific Ocean, through the tropics, into the Indian Ocean, around the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, and reaching the UK coastline. Simulati

@AGUvideos · 16:01
  • Why this video: Erik van Sebille explains the principles of Lagrangian oceanography. This presentation details how tracking virtual "particles" along simulated ocean pathways helps scientists predict where microplastics sink, drift, or wash ashore.

Knowledge Checkpoint

  • How do global wind patterns and the Coriolis effect interact to produce the five major subtropical ocean gyres?
  • What is the difference between Eulerian (fixed-point) and Lagrangian (particle-tracking) approaches to modeling ocean microplastics?
  • Why do low-density microplastics sometimes sink into deep ocean trenches instead of staying buoyant on the surface?

Module 3: Microplastics in Marine Food Webs

This module focuses on marine ecology, illustrating how small plastics enter marine food webs. You will observe zooplankton ingestion, biological transport, and study how microplastics migrate up the trophic pyramid from filter feeders to apex predators.

Recommended Videos

Science in the Lab: Do zooplankton eat microplastics?
Science in the Lab: Do zooplankton eat microplastics?
@universityofexeter06:227,988
Science in the Lab: Do zooplankton eat microplastics?

Laboratory experiments demonstrate that copepods, which are filter-feeding zooplankton and a crucial component of marine food chains, can accidentally ingest microplastics while feeding; this ingestion reduces their natural food intake (such as algae), potentially affecting their energy availability for growth, movement, and reproduction, and raises concerns about microplastic transfer up the food web to larger marine organisms.

@universityofexeter · 06:22
  • Why this video: This video shows direct laboratory footage from the University of Exeter of copepods (zooplankton) ingesting fluorescently labeled microplastics. This demonstrates how non-selective filter feeding introduces synthetic polymers into the base of the marine food web.
Microplastics in Razor Clams and Oysters
Microplastics in Razor Clams and Oysters
@OregonSeaGrant04:259,647
Microplastics in Razor Clams and Oysters

Microplastics, which include fibers from laundry, fragments from degraded plastics, foams, filaments from fishing gear, films from plastic bags, and microbeads from personal care products, are being incorporated into filter-feeding organisms like oysters and clams along the Oregon coast, potentially reaching problematic concentrations that warrant further investigation and awareness.

@OregonSeaGrant · 04:25
  • Why this video: A practical study on benthic filter feeders (razor clams and oysters) off the Oregon coast. It illustrates the real-world abundance of synthetic fibers in wild shellfish harvested for human consumption.
Assignment Asia: Our Plastic World 1/2
Assignment Asia: Our Plastic World 1/2
@cgtn00:431,398
Assignment Asia: Our Plastic World 1/2

When zooplankton ingest microplastics, they consume less of their natural prey, resulting in reduced energy intake. This leads to smaller egg production and decreased hatching success, significantly lowering reproductive success. Additionally, microplastic-exposed organisms are more likely to die and show reduced growth rates. Since zooplankton form the foundation of marine food chains, these impacts can cascade upward, affecting commercially important fish species and larger marine animals.

@cgtn · 00:43
  • Why this video: This clip explains the energetic and reproductive costs of plastic ingestion. It covers how plastic consumption reduces natural prey intake, leading to lower energy reserves, smaller egg clutches, and diminished hatching success.
Getting Plastic Out of Your Diet & The Ocean | Chef AJ LIVE! with Suzanne Frazer
Getting Plastic Out of Your Diet & The Ocean | Chef AJ LIVE! with Suzanne Frazer
@CHEFAJ01:013,143
Getting Plastic Out of Your Diet & The Ocean | Chef AJ LIVE! with Suzanne Frazer

Plankton, the base of the marine food chain, is ingesting microplastic particles. Under microscopic examination, plastic particles are found in plankton guts and fecal pellets. This means that even if a fish appears free of visible plastic, chemical analysis would likely reveal contamination throughout the entire food chain.

@CHEFAJ · 01:01
  • Why this video: Discusses how microplastic fibers are packaged into planktonic fecal pellets. This process alters the density and sinking rates of marine snow, which affects carbon cycling and food sources in deep-sea ecosystems.

Knowledge Checkpoint

  • Why are non-selective filter-feeding organisms particularly vulnerable to microplastic ingestion?
  • How does plastic ingestion cause "physical satiation" and lead to nutritional deficiencies in marine life?
  • How do contaminated zooplankton fecal pellets affect the transport of organic carbon to the deep seafloor?

Module 4: Ecotoxicological Impacts on Marine Organisms

This module examines the physical and chemical toxicity of microplastics, addressing a critical gap in ecotoxicological biochemistry. You will learn how plastics adsorb Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) from seawater, how these toxins translocate across gut tissues, and the health risks of microplastics in human food webs.

+--------------------------+ +--------------------------+ +--------------------------+ | Hydrophobic Pollutants | ---> | Microplastic Surface | ---> | Tissue Translocation | | (PCBs, DDT in seawater) | | (Concentrates toxins) | | (Passes gut into blood) | +--------------------------+ +--------------------------+ +--------------------------+

Recommended Videos

Microplastic Pollution in Freshwater Ecosystems | Science & Impact
Microplastic Pollution in Freshwater Ecosystems | Science & Impact
@4ISTC01:291,746
Microplastic Pollution in Freshwater Ecosystems | Science & Impact

Microplastics pose toxicological threats primarily through persistent organic pollutants (POPs): First, microplastics themselves can leach harmful chemicals like PCBs into the environment. Second, microplastics readily adsorb POPs such as DDT, PCBs, and PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) onto their surfaces, sometimes at concentrations millions of times higher than ambient environmental levels. This exacerbates bioaccumulation up the food chain, potentially increasing toxin exposure in spec

@4ISTC · 01:29
  • Why this video: This video introduces the chemical toxicity of microplastics, focusing on how they leach manufacturing additives (like phthalates) and adsorb hydrophobic environmental pollutants (like PCBs) from the surrounding water.
One Health One Planet™: Additional Routes of Exposure for Humans and Animals
One Health One Planet™: Additional Routes of Exposure for Humans and Animals
@phippsconservatory01:03312
One Health One Planet™: Additional Routes of Exposure for Humans and Animals

Microplastics in marine ecosystems act as vectors for persistent organic pollutants (POPs). These plastic particles rise to the ocean surface where they accumulate oils from dead fish. As plastic particles roll through this surface film, they concentrate POPs by a factor of 100,000 times or more compared to the surrounding water column. When marine animals consume these contaminated plastics and humans eat those fish, they ingest both the inherently toxic elements of plastics and the concentrate

@phippsconservatory · 01:03
  • Why this video: This clip explains the role of plastics as chemical vectors. It describes how buoyant plastics collect oily, hydrophobic POPs on their surfaces, concentrating these toxic chemicals before they are ingested by marine wildlife.
Changing Seas - Our Oceans in Peril | Full Season | Free Documentary Nature
Changing Seas - Our Oceans in Peril | Full Season | Free Documentary Nature
@FreeDocumentaryNature01:04495,080
Changing Seas - Our Oceans in Peril | Full Season | Free Documentary Nature

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) accumulate in marine food chains through bioaccumulation. These chemicals bind to fat cells and move up the food chain as organisms consume contaminated prey. Top predators like dolphins receive much larger doses accumulated over time. This explains why dolphins and humans who consume similar fish species often show high contaminant levels, with northern urban areas showing particularly elevated concentrations.

@FreeDocumentaryNature · 01:04
  • Why this video: This segment details bioaccumulation and biomagnification. It explains how lipid-soluble chemicals bind to animal fat tissue and increase in concentration at each step up the marine food chain.
Are Microplastics in Our Water Becoming a Macroproblem? | National Geographic
Are Microplastics in Our Water Becoming a Macroproblem? | National Geographic
@NatGeo00:20251,236
Are Microplastics in Our Water Becoming a Macroproblem? | National Geographic

A major concern regarding plastic pollution is its role as a vector for transporting harmful chemicals into the tissues of animals that humans consume. Plastic debris absorbs and concentrates environmental pollutants, which can then transfer to marine organisms and potentially enter the human food supply chain.

@NatGeo · 00:20
  • Why this video: National Geographic details how ingested plastics act as "Trojan horses." They transport hazardous compounds from the ocean directly into the edible tissues of commercial fish and shellfish.
Plastics Clog Your Arteries, Raise Risk of Heart Attacks New Study Finds
Plastics Clog Your Arteries, Raise Risk of Heart Attacks New Study Finds
@Highintensityhealth10:4610,951
Plastics Clog Your Arteries, Raise Risk of Heart Attacks New Study Finds

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that microplastics are detected in coronary artery plaque and correlate with a 4.5-fold increased risk of heart attack or stroke. The study followed 108 patients over several years, using angiography and mass spectroscopy to detect microplastics. The amount of microplastics in the body is directly proportional to the severity of major adverse cardiovascular events. Microplastics have been detected in multiple human organs including c

@Highintensityhealth · 10:46
  • Why this video: This video reviews clinical evidence of human microplastic ingestion, focusing on a landmark study in The New England Journal of Medicine. It details how nano- and microplastics translocate into human coronary artery plaques, significantly increasing the risk of cardiovascular inflammation, stroke, and myocardial infarction.

Independent Study Note (Curriculum Gap): To understand chemical absorption, research hydrophobic partitioning. This is the process where non-polar organic pollutants (such as DDT and PCBs) dissolve out of polar seawater and adsorb onto the highly non-polar surfaces of polyethylene and polypropylene.

Knowledge Checkpoint

  • Why do hydrophobic pollutants like PCBs adsorb onto plastics in concentrations up to one million times higher than in surrounding seawater?
  • What is cellular translocation, and how do particles smaller than 1 micrometer (nanoplastics) cross biological membranes into circulatory and lymphatic systems?
  • How does biomagnification differ from bioaccumulation within marine trophic levels?

Module 5: Global Mitigation and Solutions

This module evaluates potential solutions to the plastic crisis. You will examine the chemistry of seaweed-derived bioplastics, microbial biodegradation pathways, interceptor engineering systems, and international policy initiatives like the UN Global Plastic Treaty negotiations.

Recommended Videos

How A Teen Proved Scientists Wrong About Ocean Cleanup
How A Teen Proved Scientists Wrong About Ocean Cleanup
@voyager20511:433,174
How A Teen Proved Scientists Wrong About Ocean Cleanup

The Ocean Cleanup, founded by Boyan Slat in 2013, initially proposed using ocean currents to collect plastic in concentrated gyre areas, but faced significant challenges including the discovery that 75-86% of Great Pacific Garbage Patch plastic actually comes from commercial fishing industry waste, leading to a strategic pivot toward targeting the 1,000 rivers responsible for 80% of ocean plastic emissions through river interception systems like the Interceptor, with the organization now pursuin

@voyager205 · 11:43
  • Why this video: This video details the engineering journey of Boyan Slat's Ocean Cleanup project. It covers the challenges of passive ocean plastic collection, the physics of containment booms, and the shift from harvesting surface trash to intercepting plastic in rivers before it reaches the sea.
18 Products Made From Trash - Season 3 Marathon | World Wide Waste | Business Insider
18 Products Made From Trash - Season 3 Marathon | World Wide Waste | Business Insider
@BusinessInsider03:3213,590,601
18 Products Made From Trash - Season 3 Marathon | World Wide Waste | Business Insider

Sway in California develops compostable bioplastics from seaweed to replace single-use plastics. Different seaweed species contain different useful compounds: brown seaweeds carry alginate while red seaweeds carry agar. The process starts with alginate powder sourced from processing centers, mixed with water, sugars, starches (from coconut and wheat), and plant-based dyes. The blended solution is cast into films that cool and solidify in about 10 seconds. The goal is creating materials that look

@BusinessInsider · 03:32
  • Why this video: This segment details seaweed-based packaging solutions from Sway. It explains how biochemists use natural alginates and seaweed compounds to formulate polymers that biodegrade within weeks in natural marine environments.
1 | PLASTIC | BIODEGRADABLE | MICROBIAL DEGRADATION | SUSTAINABILITY | ENVIRONMENT|DR. HAMMAD MAJEED
1 | PLASTIC | BIODEGRADABLE | MICROBIAL DEGRADATION | SUSTAINABILITY | ENVIRONMENT|DR. HAMMAD MAJEED
@majeedhammad03:282,930
1 | PLASTIC | BIODEGRADABLE | MICROBIAL DEGRADATION | SUSTAINABILITY | ENVIRONMENT|DR. HAMMAD MAJEED

This section covers the microorganisms involved in plastic degradation and their pathways. Bacterial species include Pseudomonas, Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, Micrococcus, and Bacillus. Fungal species include Aspergillus, Rhizopus, Fusarium, and others. Synthetic polymers serve as carbon and energy sources for these microorganisms. Two main pathways exist: direct mechanism (microbes attack and degrade polymer for nutrition) and indirect mechanism (microbial metabolic products degrade the polym

@majeedhammad · 03:28
  • Why this video: This video explains how specific bacteria and fungi (such as Pseudomonas, Bacillus, and Aspergillus species) use specialized enzymes to degrade synthetic plastic structures, offering a potential biotechnological path for waste processing.
Oil and plastic-producing countries upend UN plastic pollution treaty talks | DW News
Oil and plastic-producing countries upend UN plastic pollution treaty talks | DW News
@dwnews05:113,240
Oil and plastic-producing countries upend UN plastic pollution treaty talks | DW News

International negotiations for a legally binding plastic pollution treaty failed in Geneva as oil-producing nations and the plastics industry opposed production caps, highlighting how economic interests conflict with environmental protection goals in global climate agreements.

@dwnews · 05:11
  • Why this video: This news feature looks at the geopolitical and economic challenges of the UN Global Plastic Treaty talks. It details the debates between ambitious nations seeking plastic production caps and petrochemical-producing states pushing for downstream recycling-only mandates.
LIVE: UN talks resume on a global treaty to curb plastic pollution
LIVE: UN talks resume on a global treaty to curb plastic pollution
@Reuters18:453,679
LIVE: UN talks resume on a global treaty to curb plastic pollution

Creating a legally binding international instrument on plastic pollution represents one of the most urgent environmental priorities of our time. This process exemplifies the challenges and possibilities of multilateral diplomacy. Despite political complexities and divergent national interests, international cooperation has successfully delivered major agreements including the pandemic treaty and other environmental instruments. The negotiations demonstrate that effective multilateralism requires

@Reuters · 18:45
  • Why this video: Live footage and direct debate from the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) sessions. This video shows how international policy is negotiated and highlights the challenges of creating legally binding environmental regulations.

Knowledge Checkpoint

  • Why are seaweed-derived bioplastics (such as those containing alginate) capable of marine biodegradation, whereas cornstarch-based PLA requires high-temperature industrial composting facilities?
  • What is the main design feature of passive river interceptors compared to open-ocean cleanup systems?
  • What are the primary disagreements between "High Ambition Coalition" countries and fossil-fuel producing states in the UN Global Plastic Treaty negotiations?

Course Map

Below is the recommended pathway through the modules. Each module builds the necessary foundational chemistry, physics, or biology required for the next.

Key People Index

  • Dr. Sarah Dudas (University of Exeter / Vancouver Island University)
    Context: Lead researcher on microplastic distribution in marine habitats. Highlighted in Module 1 for defining the distinction between primary and secondary microplastics.
  • Dr. Kara Lavender Law (Sea Education Association)
    Context: Research Professor of Oceanography. Renowned for collecting long-term datasets on plastic accumulation in North Atlantic and Caribbean gyres, featured in Module 2.
  • Dr. Erik van Sebille (Utrecht University)
    Context: Climate physicist and oceanographer. Leader in modeling global ocean current dispersion of microplastics using Lagrangian tracking paradigms, featured in Module 2.
  • Dr. Tamara Galloway (University of Exeter)
    Context: Ecotoxicologist. Pioneered high-resolution imaging of live zooplankton ingesting microplastics, demonstrating food web impacts in Module 3.
  • Boyan Slat (The Ocean Cleanup)
    Context: Dutch inventor and entrepreneur. Founded the organization that designed passive surface barriers for gyre trash cleanups and active River Interceptor systems, featured in Module 5.

Final Self-Assessment

Test your understanding of the entire curriculum by answering this comprehensive self-assessment:

  • Explain how UV-induced photo-oxidation chemically weakens a polymer chain (e.g., polyethylene) and makes it susceptible to mechanical breakdown.
  • Compare primary microplastics (like nurdles and microbeads) with secondary microplastics regarding their industrial origin and morphology.
  • Describe the oceanographic forces (wind, Coriolis effect, Ekman transport) that concentrate plastic debris inside subtropical gyres.
  • Explain the difference between Eulerian and Lagrangian ocean models, and how oceanographers use them to track floating microplastics.
  • Describe the trophic journey of a microplastic fiber, starting from its release during washing, through its ingestion by marine zooplankton, up to its consumption by an apex predator.
  • Explain why microplastics act as chemical "vectors." Specifically, address how the hydrophobic nature of both the plastics and certain organic pollutants (like PCBs and DDT) leads to high concentration of these pollutants on plastic surfaces.
  • Define the process of cellular translocation. Explain how small nanoplastics can cross epithelial tissue barriers (such as the gut lining or circulatory systems) in marine life and humans.
  • Cite clinical findings connecting microplastic particles found in human arterial tissues to physiological outcomes like vascular inflammation or cardiovascular events.
  • Compare the chemical differences and environmental breakdown pathways of seaweed-derived polymers with industrial starch-based polylactic acid (PLA).
  • Detail the main conflicts and compromise points between economic blocks in the UN Global Plastic Treaty negotiations.
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