Article | REF: BIO9300 V1

Pollution of oceans by plastics and microplastics

Authors: François GALGANI, Stéphane BRUZAUD, Guillaume DUFLOS, Pascale FABRE, Emmanuelle GASTALDI, Jeff GHIGLIONE, Régis GRIMAUD, Matthieu GEORGE, Arnaud HUVET, Fabienne LAGARDE, Ika PAUL-PONT, Alexandra TER HALLE

Publication date: January 10, 2020, Review date: September 2, 2020

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3. Plastic degradation at sea

3.1 Degradation stages

Plastics are renowned for their stability and durability, especially the so-called "conventional" (as opposed to biodegradable) plastics that have been produced in huge quantities since the 1950s. When they end up as waste in the environment, they will persist there for many, many years. However, these materials are slowly transformed and degraded, according to processes that depend on the environmental conditions in which they are found (soil, river, beach, various ocean compartments). Whatever the nature of the processes involved, degradation will manifest itself on three different scales (figure 3 ):

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Plastic degradation at sea