SEVENSEAS Marine Conservation & Travel SPECIAL PUBLICATION | Page 2

THE
PROBLEM
The Arctic is commonly recognized as
one of the last pristine environments on
Earth. Many assume that the region’s
remoteness from human activities
would make it unaffected by the many
other environmental problems around
the world.

include abrasive cleaning agents and personal care products. Indirect sources of
microplastics come from fragmentation
of larger pieces of plastic and microfibres
from textiles.

The plastic problem is so pervasive that
it has managed to make its way to the
Arctic, which a recent study has revealed
to be a ‘sink’ for human-made pollutants
transported from distant sources1.

The presence of microplastics represents a serious human health concern, as
approximately 40% of the United States’
commercial fisheries (by weight) come
from the Bering Sea and about 50% of
the fish consumed in the European Union
comes from the European Arctic2. This
problem is not contained to the Arctic: it
affects us all.

Microplastics are small plastic particles
in the environment that are generally
between 1 and 5 mm. Direct sources of microplastics for specific product functions

In order to effectively combat this problem, it is essential to have a clear understanding of how microplastics affect
human health and wildlife.

This is no longer true.

Plastic pollution has a serious global impact on food safety,
human and wildlife health and even climate change resilience.
Human consumption of fish and ingestion
of these microplastics threaten the accumulation of toxic substances in living
organisms moving up the food chain
(toxic bioaccumulation). This means the
highest levels of toxic substances are
found in the top predators, including humans. These toxic substances are not only
the microplastics themselves, but also the
persistent organic pollutants (POPS) and
mercury that stick to the plastic debris.
1

1 Obbard, R. W., Sadri, S., Wong, Y. Q., Khitun, A. A., Baker, I., ThompThe pollution of the marine environment by plastic debris: a review.
son, R.C.J.G.B
(2014)
Global warming
releases
microplastic
legacy frozen
Derraik
(2002).Marine
Pollution
Bulletin
44: 842-852
in Arctic Sea ice. Earth’s Future, Vol. 2, No. 6 pp. 315-320, available at
http://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/agu/

Global
& Polar
Programme
IUCNIUCN
GlobalMarine
Marine
& Polar
Programme
(International
Union
for for
Conservation
of Nature)
(International
Union
Conservation
of Nature)

If our assumption that the presence of microplastics delays Arctic sea ice formation
and accelerates the melting of Arctic sea ice
is correct, this represents not only a direct
threat to ice-dependent animals, but also
can be an alarming multiplier of climate
change.
This new problem is only expected to get
worse with increased consumption and poor
management at the end-of-life of plastics.
22 Global warming releases microplastic legacy frozen in Arctic Sea
Weidemann, Lilly (2014) International Governance of the Arctic Maice. R. W. Obbard, S. Sadri, Ying Qi Wong, A. A. Khitun, I. Baker, R. C.
rine Environment: With Particular Emphasis on High Seas Fisheries,
Thompson, 20 June 2014, available at http://agupubs.onlinelibrary.
Springer International Publishing, p.30
wiley.com/agu/

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