Plastic pellet pollution

Nurdles are the second largest source of microplastics in the ocean.[5] Approximately 27 million tonnes (60 billion pounds) of nurdles are manufactured annually in the United States.[6] One pound of pelletized HDPE contains approximately 25,000 nurdles (approximately 20 mg per nurdle). They are typically under 5 mm (0.20 in) in diameter.[7] Worldwide, about 230,000 tonnes of nurdles are thought to be deposited in the oceans each year.[4]

A handful of nurdles, spilled from a train in Pineville, Louisiana, in the United States

Plastic resin pellets are classified as primary microplastics, meaning that they were intentionally produced at sizes ranging from 1–5 mm in diameter (whereas secondary microplastics are created through photodegradation and weathering of larger pieces of plastic, like water bottles and fishing nets).[8][9] Primary microplastics make up between 15% and 31% of the growing amount of marine microplastic pollution, which is related to the corporative expansion of large-scale plastic production.[9] Like microbeads, preproduction plastic pellets can be released directly into the environment as a form of primary microplastic pollution.[9] As more plastic is being produced, more plastic pellets are being deposited in waterways.[10]  

A study on a polyethylene production facility in Sweden found that between 3 and 36 million of plastic pellets enter the environment from production sites every year.[11] These nurdles spill during transportation and production and due to inadequate precautions and regulations, millions of pellets of plastic end up in nearby waterways and eventually the ocean.[11]

Nurdles are a major contributor to marine debris. During a three-month study of Orange County beaches researchers found them to be the most common beach contaminant.[12] Nurdles on bathing beaches in East Lothian, Scotland have been shown to be covered with E. coli and Vibrio biofilms, according to a 2019 study.[13][14]

Waterborne nurdles may either be a raw material of plastic production, or from larger chunks of plastics.[15] A major concentration of plastic may be the Great Pacific garbage patch, a growing collection of marine debris known for its high concentrations of plastic litter.

Nurdles that escape from the plastic production process into waterways or oceans have become a significant source of ocean and beach plastic pollution. Plastic pellet pollution that has been monitored in studies is mainly found in the sediments and beach areas and is usually polyethylene or polypropylene, the two main plastic polymers found in microplastic pollution.[16]

Nurdles have frequently been found in the digestive tracts of various marine creatures, causing physiological damage by leaching plasticizers such as phthalates. Nurdles can carry two types of micropollutants in the marine environment: native plastic additives and hydrophobic pollutants absorbed from seawater. For example, concentrations of PCBs and DDE on nurdles collected from Japanese coastal waters were found to be up to 1 million times higher than the levels detected in surrounding seawater.[17]

Plastic microbeads used in cosmetic exfoliating products are also found in water.

Of the 300 million tons of plastic material produced each year, over 14 million tons end up in the ocean, and plastic production is continuing to increase.[28] Marine litter as a whole is imposing environmental threats to marine ecosystems and policy solutions are crucial to better the ocean.[28]

• The plastic industry has responded to the increased interest and concern for plastic pellet loss and pollution sources. Operation Clean Sweep was created by SPI: The Plastics Industry Trade Association in 2001 and joined by the American Chemistry Council with the goal of zero pellet loss for plastic manufacturers.[29] This voluntary stewardship program provides its members with a manual which guides them through ways in which they can reduce pellet loss within their own facilities and provides the necessary training.[30][31] However, the program does not require companies to keep or report any data on pellet spills.[32]
• In 2007 California passed AB 258, which established measures that preproduction plastic producing manufacturers had to follow during the production and transport of plastic pellets.[33] This preventative measure includes inspections by the Regional and State Water Board staff and enforcement of orderly production and transportation of preproduction plastic to minimize the amount of plastic resin pellets spills.[34]
• In 2008, California passed a "nurdle law", which "specifically names pre-production plastic pellets (nurdles) as a pollutant".[35]
• In 2015, the Microbead-Free Waters Act passed, which prohibits the manufacturing and distribution of primary plastic microbeads for cosmetic products.[36] This ban will reduce the amount of plastic pellets that end up in oceans by preventing microbead particles from being used in cosmetic care products.[36]

On April 11, 2013, in order to create awareness, artist Maria Cristina Finucci founded The Garbage Patch State at UNESCO[37] in Paris in front of Director General Irina Bokova. It is the first of a series of events under the patronage of UNESCO and of Italian Ministry of the Environment.[38]

The Great Nurdle Hunt is a citizen science project that maps out plastic pellet pollution globally.[39] The data collected is used to actively engage with industry and policy-makers to develop solutions to prevent further pellet pollution.

Judith Selby Lang and Richard Lang as One Beach Plastic engage in wide range of artistic disruptions with the intent to bring awareness to the effects of plastic pollution on the world's beaches, Many of their works specifically address nurdle pollution.[40]

• Microbead
• Microplastics

• Moore, C; S Moore; M Leecaster; S Weisberg (2001). "A Comparison of Plastic and Plankton in the North Pacific Central Gyre" (PDF). Marine Pollution Bulletin. 42 (12): 1297–1300. doi:10.1016/S0025-326X(01)00114-X. ISSN 0025-326X. PMID 11827116.
• Michelle Allsopp; Adam Walters; David Santillo & Paul Johnston (2006). "Plastic Debris in the World's Oceans" (PDF). Netherlands: Greenpeace.