Regional distribution of styrene analogues generated from polystyrene degradation along the coastlines of the North-East Pacific Ocean and Hawaii

Bum Gun Kwon; Katsuhiko Saido; Koshiro Koizumi; Hideto Sato; Naoto Ogawa; Seon-Yong Chung; Takashi Kusui; Yoichi Kodera; Kazuhio Kogure

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2014.01.019

Regional distribution of styrene analogues generated from polystyrene degradation along the coastlines of the North-East Pacific Ocean and Hawaii

Environ Pollut. 2014 May:188:45-9. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2014.01.019. Epub 2014 Feb 16.

Authors

Bum Gun Kwon¹, Katsuhiko Saido², Koshiro Koizumi³, Hideto Sato³, Naoto Ogawa⁴, Seon-Yong Chung⁵, Takashi Kusui⁶, Yoichi Kodera², Kazuhio Kogure⁷

Affiliations

¹ Gyeongnam Department of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, Korea Institute of Toxicology (KIT), 17 Jeigok-gil, Munsan-eup, Jinju, Gyeongsangnam-do 660-844, Republic of Korea; Department of Environment and Energy Engineering, College of Engineering, Chonnam National University, 77 Yongbong-ro, Buk-gu, Gwangju 500-757, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: kwonbg0@daum.net.
² National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), 16-1 Onogawa Stikuba, Ibaraki 305-8569, Japan.
³ College of Science & Technology, Nihon University, 7-24-1, Narashinodai, Funabashi-shi, Chiba 274-8501, Japan.
⁴ Shizuoka University, 836, Ohya, Suruga-ku, Shizuoka-shi, Shizuoka-ken 422-8529, Japan.
⁵ Department of Environment and Energy Engineering, College of Engineering, Chonnam National University, 77 Yongbong-ro, Buk-gu, Gwangju 500-757, Republic of Korea.
⁶ Toyama Prefecture University, 5180 Kurokawa, Imizu-shi, Toyama 939-0398, Japan.
⁷ Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa-shi, Chiba 277-8564, Japan.

PMID: 24553245
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2014.01.019

Abstract

Beach sand and seawater taken from the coastlines of the North-East Pacific Ocean and Hawaii State were investigated to determine the causes of global chemical contamination from polystyrene (PS). All samples were found to contain styrene monomer (SM), styrene dimers (SD), and styrene trimers (ST) with a concentration distribution of styrene analogues in the order of ST > SD > SM. The contamination by styrene analogues along the West Coast proved more severe than in Alaska and other regions. The Western Coastlines of the USA seem be affected by both land- and ocean-based pollution sources, which might result from it being a heavily populated area as the data suggest a possible proportional relationship between PS pollution and population. Our results suggest the presence of new global chemical contaminants derived from PS in the ocean, and along coasts.

Keywords: Global ocean pollution; Plastics; Polystyrene; Styrene analogues; Styrene oligomers.

MeSH terms

Alaska
Environmental Monitoring*
Hawaii
Pacific Ocean
Polystyrenes / analysis*
Polystyrenes / chemistry
Seawater / chemistry
Styrene / analysis*
Styrene / chemistry
Water Pollutants, Chemical / analysis*
Water Pollutants, Chemical / chemistry

Substances

Polystyrenes
Water Pollutants, Chemical
Styrene