Synthetic organic polymers—or plastics—did not enter widespread use until the 1950s. By 2015, global production had increased to 322 million metric tons (Mt) year−1, which approaches the total weight of the human population produced in plastic every year. Approximately half is used for packaging and other disposables, 40% of plastic waste is not accounted for in managed landfills or recycling facilities, and 4.8–12.7 Mt year−1 enter the ocean as macroscopic litter and microplastic particles. Here, we argue that such mismanaged plastic waste is similar to other persistent pollutants, such as dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) or polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which once threatened a “silent spring” on land. Such a scenario seems now possible in the ocean, where plastic cannot be easily removed, accumulates in organisms and sediments, and persists much longer than on land. New evidence indicates a complex toxicology of plastic micro- and nanoparticles on marine life, and transfer up the food chain, in...

中文翻译：

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塑料作为持久性海洋污染物

合成有机聚合物（或塑料）直到 1950 年代才广泛使用。到 2015 年，全球产量增加到 3.22 亿公吨 (Mt)-1，接近每年生产塑料的人口总重量。大约一半用于包装和其他一次性用品，40% 的塑料废物没有在管理垃圾填埋场或回收设施中处理，4.8-12.7 Mt year-1 以宏观垃圾和微塑料颗粒的形式进入海洋。在这里，我们认为这种管理不善的塑料废物类似于其他持久性污染物，例如二氯二苯三氯乙烷 (DDT) 或多氯联苯 (PCB)，它们曾经威胁着陆地上的“寂静之泉”。这种情况现在在海洋中似乎是可能的，在那里塑料无法轻易去除，积聚在生物体和沉积物中，并且持续时间比在陆地上长得多。新证据表明塑料微粒和纳米颗粒对海洋生物的复杂毒理学，并沿食物链向上转移，在...