Cargando…

Message in a bottle: Open source technology to track the movement of plastic pollution

Rivers worldwide are now acting as major transport pathways for plastic pollution and discharge large quantities of waste into the ocean. Previous oceanographic modelling and current drifter data have been used to predict the movement and accumulation of plastic pollution in the marine environment,...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Duncan, Emily M., Davies, Alasdair, Brooks, Amy, Chowdhury, Gawsia Wahidunnessa, Godley, Brendan J., Jambeck, Jenna, Maddalene, Taylor, Napper, Imogen, Nelms, Sarah E., Rackstraw, Craig, Koldewey, Heather
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7710111/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33264309
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0242459
_version_ 1783617882145423360
author Duncan, Emily M.
Davies, Alasdair
Brooks, Amy
Chowdhury, Gawsia Wahidunnessa
Godley, Brendan J.
Jambeck, Jenna
Maddalene, Taylor
Napper, Imogen
Nelms, Sarah E.
Rackstraw, Craig
Koldewey, Heather
author_facet Duncan, Emily M.
Davies, Alasdair
Brooks, Amy
Chowdhury, Gawsia Wahidunnessa
Godley, Brendan J.
Jambeck, Jenna
Maddalene, Taylor
Napper, Imogen
Nelms, Sarah E.
Rackstraw, Craig
Koldewey, Heather
author_sort Duncan, Emily M.
collection PubMed
description Rivers worldwide are now acting as major transport pathways for plastic pollution and discharge large quantities of waste into the ocean. Previous oceanographic modelling and current drifter data have been used to predict the movement and accumulation of plastic pollution in the marine environment, but our understanding of the transport and fate through riparian systems is still largely unknown. Here we undertook a proof of concept study by applying open source tracking technology (both GPS (Global Positing System) cellular networks and satellite technology), which have been successfully used in many animal movement studies, to track the movements of individual plastic litter items (500 ml PET (polyethylene terephthalate) drinks bottles) through the Ganges River system (known as the Ganga in India and the Padma and Meghna in Bangladesh, hereafter known as the Ganges) and the Bay of Bengal. Deployed tags were successfully tracked through the Ganges river system and into the Bay of Bengal marine system. The “bottle tags” were designed and built (e.g. shape, size, buoyancy) to replicate true movement patterns of a plastic bottle. The maximum distance tracked to date is 2845 km over a period of 94 days. We discuss lessons learnt from the development of these plastic litter tags, and outline how the potential widespread use of this open source technology has the ability to significantly increase understanding of the location of accumulation areas and the timing of large inputs of plastic pollution into the aquatic system. Furthermore, “bottle tags” may act as a powerful tool for stimulating social behaviour change, informing science-based policy, and as valuable educational outreach tools for public awareness.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-7710111
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2020
publisher Public Library of Science
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-77101112020-12-03 Message in a bottle: Open source technology to track the movement of plastic pollution Duncan, Emily M. Davies, Alasdair Brooks, Amy Chowdhury, Gawsia Wahidunnessa Godley, Brendan J. Jambeck, Jenna Maddalene, Taylor Napper, Imogen Nelms, Sarah E. Rackstraw, Craig Koldewey, Heather PLoS One Research Article Rivers worldwide are now acting as major transport pathways for plastic pollution and discharge large quantities of waste into the ocean. Previous oceanographic modelling and current drifter data have been used to predict the movement and accumulation of plastic pollution in the marine environment, but our understanding of the transport and fate through riparian systems is still largely unknown. Here we undertook a proof of concept study by applying open source tracking technology (both GPS (Global Positing System) cellular networks and satellite technology), which have been successfully used in many animal movement studies, to track the movements of individual plastic litter items (500 ml PET (polyethylene terephthalate) drinks bottles) through the Ganges River system (known as the Ganga in India and the Padma and Meghna in Bangladesh, hereafter known as the Ganges) and the Bay of Bengal. Deployed tags were successfully tracked through the Ganges river system and into the Bay of Bengal marine system. The “bottle tags” were designed and built (e.g. shape, size, buoyancy) to replicate true movement patterns of a plastic bottle. The maximum distance tracked to date is 2845 km over a period of 94 days. We discuss lessons learnt from the development of these plastic litter tags, and outline how the potential widespread use of this open source technology has the ability to significantly increase understanding of the location of accumulation areas and the timing of large inputs of plastic pollution into the aquatic system. Furthermore, “bottle tags” may act as a powerful tool for stimulating social behaviour change, informing science-based policy, and as valuable educational outreach tools for public awareness. Public Library of Science 2020-12-02 /pmc/articles/PMC7710111/ /pubmed/33264309 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0242459 Text en © 2020 Duncan et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Duncan, Emily M.
Davies, Alasdair
Brooks, Amy
Chowdhury, Gawsia Wahidunnessa
Godley, Brendan J.
Jambeck, Jenna
Maddalene, Taylor
Napper, Imogen
Nelms, Sarah E.
Rackstraw, Craig
Koldewey, Heather
Message in a bottle: Open source technology to track the movement of plastic pollution
title Message in a bottle: Open source technology to track the movement of plastic pollution
title_full Message in a bottle: Open source technology to track the movement of plastic pollution
title_fullStr Message in a bottle: Open source technology to track the movement of plastic pollution
title_full_unstemmed Message in a bottle: Open source technology to track the movement of plastic pollution
title_short Message in a bottle: Open source technology to track the movement of plastic pollution
title_sort message in a bottle: open source technology to track the movement of plastic pollution
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7710111/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33264309
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0242459
work_keys_str_mv AT duncanemilym messageinabottleopensourcetechnologytotrackthemovementofplasticpollution
AT daviesalasdair messageinabottleopensourcetechnologytotrackthemovementofplasticpollution
AT brooksamy messageinabottleopensourcetechnologytotrackthemovementofplasticpollution
AT chowdhurygawsiawahidunnessa messageinabottleopensourcetechnologytotrackthemovementofplasticpollution
AT godleybrendanj messageinabottleopensourcetechnologytotrackthemovementofplasticpollution
AT jambeckjenna messageinabottleopensourcetechnologytotrackthemovementofplasticpollution
AT maddalenetaylor messageinabottleopensourcetechnologytotrackthemovementofplasticpollution
AT napperimogen messageinabottleopensourcetechnologytotrackthemovementofplasticpollution
AT nelmssarahe messageinabottleopensourcetechnologytotrackthemovementofplasticpollution
AT rackstrawcraig messageinabottleopensourcetechnologytotrackthemovementofplasticpollution
AT koldeweyheather messageinabottleopensourcetechnologytotrackthemovementofplasticpollution