A study by the Plymouth Marine Laboratory has identified five hotspots where plastic litter poses the highest risk to marine life in the North Atlantic Ocean.

From 2000 to 2015, a team of marine researchers at the Plymouth Marine Laboratory used a scientific model to predict how buoyant plastic litter moves from rivers in 16 countries bordering the North Atlantic Ocean. This information was used to identify where the plastic was likely to accumulate.

Key habitats within the study area, such as coral reefs, mangroves, seagrass beds, saltmarsh and kelp seaweed beds, were assessed to determine their vulnerability to plastic litter.

The researchers also mapped the distribution of large marine animals in the study area, and their vulnerability to entanglement and ingestion of the plastic. Animals included in the study were seabirds, whales and dolphins, seals and sea lions, manatees and dugongs, sharks and rays, tuna and billfish.

All of this information was combined to determine hotspots where floating plastic litter poses the greatest risk to marine life in the North Atlantic Ocean.

Five risk hotspots were found: the UK, the French Atlantic, the US Atlantic, the Portuguese Azores and the US Gulf of Mexico.

In the UK the plastic litter mostly came from UK rivers, whereas in the other high-risk areas, plastic had mostly originated from other regions. For example, in the Portuguese Azores most of the plastic was estimated to have come from other countries, such as Caribbean islands and the US, demonstrating the potential for plastic to travel long distances.

Chemicals in Plastics

In addition to potential impacts like injury and reduced ability to swim due to plastic ingestion or entanglement, marine animals can also be negatively impacted by harmful chemicals in plastics.

Over 13,000 chemicals have been associated with plastics. Only around 7,000 of these have enough data available to determine their human or environmental impacts – of which around 50% have one or more hazardous properties of concern.

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in plastics, such as some bisphenols, phthalates and PFAS, are particularly concerning because they can impact the normal functioning of the hormone system. This can have knock-on effects on wildlife’s reproductive, immune, nervous and other systems controlled by hormones.

Harmful persistent chemicals consumed through food can build up in the bodies of animals until they reach potentially toxic levels. Species at the top of the food chain, such as killer whales and white sharks, are disproportionately affected. This is because they are more likely to eat larger quantities of contaminated prey than animals lower down in the food chain. This effect is known as biomagnification.

Killer whales have been found to be contaminated with some of the highest recorded levels of chemicals in their fat and in their breast milk, which may impact their health and health of their young.

In 2022, United Nations member countries agreed to develop an international, legally binding Global Plastics Treaty to end plastic pollution. Negotiations on the text are ongoing. CHEM Trust hopes to see the inclusion of robust and comprehensive measures to address harmful chemicals at all stages of a plastic’s life cycle.

We have been campaigning for many years for restrictions on hazardous chemicals in plastics – in particular bisphenols and phthalates. We have also been a member of the Break Free From Plastic movement since 2016, which involves over 12,000 organisations and individuals working together to stop plastic pollution.

For more information on chemicals of concern in plastics see our plastics webpage. You can find information on the effects of chemicals on wildlife here.

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