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Explanation of analytical data from Costa Rica coast Plastic fragments (~ 10 mm) were collected from remote coast (Costa Rica) and urban coast
(Japan), sorted and analyzed for organic contaminants including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine pesticides
(DDTs), polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), nonylphenol, octylphenol, and bisphenol
A by gaschromatograph equipped with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Hydrophobic chemicals sorbed from seawater to the plastics
were accumulated more in the plastics from the urban coast than those from the open ocean and the remote coast. PCB concentrations
in polyethylene fragments from Costa Rica coast (1 – 123 ng/g; n=5) were much lower than those from the urban coast
(18 - 309 ng/g; n=5). This spatial pattern and concentration range are consistent with the results of International Pellet
Watch (http://www.tuat.ac.jp/~gaia/ipw/index.html) where plastic resin pellets were collected by local volunteers from
20 countries and sent to our laboratory for chemical analysis. These results indicated that potential threat associated with
hydrophobic pollutants in marine plastics would be less serious in remote beach such as Costa Rica than industrialized coasts. However,
even in the the remote coast (Costa Rica), high concentrations of additive-derived chemicals, such as nonylphenol and decabrominated
diphenyl ether (BDE209), were detected from plastic, especially polypropylene, fragments. Nonylphenol and polybrominated diphenylethers
(PBDEs) are endocrine disrupting chemicals. High concentrations of nonylphenol over 100 ng/g with maximum concentration of
3900 ng/g were detected in plastic fragments from Costa Rica coast. In the emote coast, ecological threat associated with
plastic additives could be more serious than chemicals sorbed from seawater.
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ITEMS COLLECTED | Total # of Items | Description of Items. | PIECES MONOFILAMENT
| 4973 | Any small or large section of monofilament, including sections with knots that are otherwise straight sections. | BALLS
MONOFILAMENT |
650 | Any section of monofilament that has been rolled into a ball or a tangled nest that cannot be straightened out with
reasonable effort. | PLASTIC BAGS |
88 | All plastic bags. | PLASTIC FRAGMENTS |
5416 | Any chunk of plastic from greater than 5mm to infinity. | NYLON ROPE |
89 | Any size section of nylon rope. | LEAD SINKERS | | All lead sinkers used for fishing. Deteriorating lead sinkers have the potential of contaminating the eco-system
and food-chain associated with the system. | FISHING HOOKS | | All fishing hooks in any condition. | PLASTIC BOTTLES |
1037 | Any intact plastic bottles of any size. | BOTTLE
CAPS | 208
| Bottle caps from any plastic container separated from bottles. | TOOTH
BRUSHES |
9 | | DEODORANT
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11 | | STRAWS
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64 | Straws of any size or condition. | COMBS
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1 | | ALUMINUM CHUNKS |
874 | Any chunk of aluminum beverage can, these items were mostly the top or bottom of a beer
can, the body of the can is thinner and disintegrates much faster than the top and bottom. This contamination must be absiorbed
by the eco-system. | STYROFOAM CHUNKS |
266 | Any size piece of styro-foam. | SHOES
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202 | All shoes,sandals,thongs. | SYRINGES
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22 | Hypodermic syringes with or without needles. | FABRIC
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| Any
piece of cloth fabric of any size including socks. | Total items collected at Lagartillo Reef. |
13,910 | 1026 meters of beach and tidal zone in 54 collections. |
Global Distribution of contaminants in marine plastics.
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