Charles James MooreAlgalita Marine Research and Education
Charles James Moore
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Publications
Publications (39)
Microscopy is often the first step in microplastic analysis and is generally followed by spectroscopy to confirm material type. The value of microscopy lies in its ability to provide count, size, color, and morphological information to inform toxicity and source apportionment. To assess the accuracy and precision of microscopy, we conducted a metho...
Despite global efforts to monitor, mitigate against, and prevent trash (mismanaged solid waste) pollution, no harmonized trash typology system has been widely adopted worldwide. This impedes the merging of datasets and comparative analyses. We addressed this problem by 1) assessing the state of trash typology and comparability, 2) developing a stan...
The hyper-oligotrophic waters of the South Pacific Subtropical Gyre (SPSG) and the productive coastal Humboldt Current System (HCS) constitute an extreme nutrient gradient in the eastern South Pacific Ocean.Rich and dense fouling communities are known from floating objects in the HCS, but they have not been studied in the SPSG and
it is not known w...
Wastewater effluent is a prevalent source of contaminants of emerging concern in aquatic environments, including plastic pollution. A wide range of monitoring and analytical techniques to assess the contribution of wastewater derived microplastic pollution have been employed over the past two decades. The goal of this report is to critically evalua...
The Mediterranean Sea has been recently proposed as one of the most impacted regions of the world with regards to microplastics, however the polymeric composition of these floating particles is still largely unknown. Here we present the results of a large-scale survey of neustonic micro- and meso-plastics floating in Mediterranean waters, providing...
Plastic pollution is ubiquitous throughout the marine environment, yet estimates of the global abundance and weight of floating plastics have lacked data, particularly from the Southern Hemisphere and remote regions. Here we report an estimate of the total number of plastic particles and their weight floating in the world’s oceans from 24 expeditio...
Recognition of increasing plastic debris pollution over the last several decades has led to investigations of the imminent dangers posed to marine organisms and their ecosystems, but very little is known about the preservation potential of plastics in the rock record. As anthropogenically derived materials, plastics are astonishingly abundant in oc...
Laysan Albatrosses (Phoebastria immutabilis) and Black-footed Albatrosses (P. nigripes) ingest plastic debris, as evidenced by studies showing plastic in the digestive contents of their chicks, but there is little documentation of the frequency and amount of ingested plastics carried in foraging adults. In this study, we quantify plastics among the...
To understand the spatial variation in concentrations and compositions of organic micropollutants in marine plastic debris and their sources, we analyzed plastic fragments (∼10 mm) from the open ocean and from remote and urban beaches. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane and i...
Floating marine plastic debris was found to function as solid-phase extraction media, adsorbing and concentrating pollutants out of the water column. Plastic debris was collected in the North Pacific Gyre, extracted, and analyzed for 36 individual PCB congeners, 17 organochlorine pesticides, and 16 EPA priority PAHs. Over 50% contained PCBs, 40% co...
Within the last few decades, plastics have revolutionized our daily lives. Globally we use in excess of 260 million tonnes of plastic per annum, accounting for approximately 8 per cent of world oil production. In this Theme Issue of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, we describe current and future trends in usage, together with the ma...
Plastic debris has significant environmental and economic impacts in marine systems. Monitoring is crucial to assess the efficacy of measures implemented to reduce the abundance of plastic debris, but it is complicated by large spatial and temporal heterogeneity in the amounts of plastic debris and by our limited understanding of the pathways follo...
Plastics debris in the marine environment, including resin pellets, fragments and microscopic plastic fragments, contain organic contaminants, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, petroleum hydrocarbons, organochlorine pesticides (2,2'-bis(p-chlorophenyl)-1,1,1-trichloroethane, hexachlorinated hexanes), poly...
Plastics have transformed everyday life; usage is increasing and annual production is likely to exceed 300 million tonnes by 2010. In this concluding paper to the Theme Issue on Plastics, the Environment and Human Health, we synthesize current understanding of the benefits and concerns surrounding the use of plastics and look to future priorities,...
Samples of polyethylene pellets were collected at 30 beaches from 17 countries and analyzed for organochlorine compounds. PCB concentrations in the pellets were highest on US coasts, followed by western Europe and Japan, and were lower in tropical Asia, southern Africa and Australia. This spatial pattern reflected regional differences in the usage...
Synthetic polymers, commonly known as plastics, have been entering the marine environment in quantities paralleling their level of production over the last half century. However, in the last two decades of the 20th Century, the deposition rate accelerated past the rate of production, and plastics are now one of the most common and persistent pollut...
Thermoplastic resin pellets are melted and formed into an enormous number of inexpensive consumer goods, many of which are discarded after a relatively short period of use, dropped haphazardly onto watersheds and then make their way to the ocean where some get ingested by marine life. In 2003 and 2004 pre-production thermoplastic resin pellets and...
The largest ever meeting focusing on plastic debris in the environment was recently held in Redondo Beach, California ([1][1]). It is evident that plastic waste presents major concerns in aquatic habitats worldwide. However, this meeting differed from previous efforts/gatherings because
1 and in the North Pacific Ocean in the 1980's 19 . Although significant levels of plastic particulates were found, these studies failed to generate any regular monitoring program to assess plastic particulate levels in the marine environment. In response to the fact that plastic debris is increasing in the marine environment 3 , Algalita Marine Re...
Plastics as a means to transport pollutants in aquatic and marine ecosystems have become the focus of scientific research as levels of macro and micro plastics in these environments increase. 1,2,3,4 Hideshige Takada and colleagues at the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology have studied how polypropylene (PP) pellets in the marine enviro...
Previous studies of neustonic debris have been limited to surface sampling. Here we conducted two trawl surveys, one before and one shortly after a rain event, in which debris and zooplankton density were measured at three depths in Santa Monica Bay, California. Surface samples were collected with a manta trawl, mid-depth samples with a bongo net a...
The density of neustonic plastic particles was compared to that of zooplankton in the coastal ocean near Long Beach, California. Two trawl surveys were conducted, one after an extended dry period when there was little land-based runoff, the second shortly after a storm when runoff was extensive. On each survey, neuston samples were collected at fiv...
The potential for ingestion of plastic particles by open ocean filter feeders was assessed by measuring the relative abundance and mass of neustonic plastic and zooplankton in surface waters under the central atmospheric high-pressure cells of the North Pacific Ocean. Neuston samples were collected at 11 random sites, using a manta trawl lined with...
The density of neustonic plastic particles was compared to that of zooplankton in the coastal ocean near Long Beach, California. Two trawl surveys were conducted, one after an extended dry period when there was little land-based runoff, and the second shortly after a storm when runoff was exten- sive. On each survey, neuston samples were col- lecte...
NOT THE ABSTRACT; there is no one, but this in the Introduction.
Marine plastics including plastic fragments and plastic resin pellets are distributed widely in the ocean. Because the marine plastics contain organic pollutants [1], their adverse effects have been of great concern. To assess the risks of plastic-associated chemicals, understanding...
Projects
Project (1)
http://www.captain-charles-moore.org/chile-2016/
Research Lantern Fish population in the South Pacific Gyre to determine the scope of plastic pollution and how well these fish are surviving. The itinerary also includes sampling the waters off Easter Island and the coast of Chile. This is a 6-month research project. Please click here to learn more. http://www.algalita.org/sp-expedition/
