The Great Pacific Garbage Patch 

           The article, Damaging Effects of Plastic, from the Clean Our Oceans Refuge Coalition (COORC) shares the history of plastics. Plastics have been mass-produced since the 1940’s, and their production has been rapidly increasing every year. “The amount of plastic produced between 2000 and 2009 was more than the total produced in the entire last century 1900-1999” (Damaging Effects of Plastic). Modern day society uses plastics for most packaging purposes because it is lightweight and inexpensive. Plastics are considered non-biodegradable, since they contain polypropylene which requires too much energy to be broken down by nature. Plastic has been around for decades, but the long term effects are only being discovered now since it is quantified that "86% of ocean debris is plastic" (Damaging Effects of Plastic).

           Plastics in the ocean break down into small pieces from the heat of the sun which is known as photodegradation. According to the COORC from another 2013 article, plastic in this stage is toxic and releases dangerous chemicals into the water such as bisphenol-A. These chemicals are absorbed in the tissues of marine organisms, thus traveling up the food chain and possibly being consumed by humans. The chemicals lead to serious environmental and health problems in both humans and marine life. (What are the Damages Associated with the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?) Small particles of plastic in the oceans are more dangerous than when they are large and intact.

           Not only can UV light break down plastics, but some microorganisms also have the ability to break down plastics which is known as microbial biodegradation. Claire Dussud and Jean-Francois Ghiglione explain the three step process of microbial biodegradation in their scientific article, Bacterial Degradation of Synthetic Plastics. Bio-deterioration occurs when the colonies of decomposers physically and chemically degrade the plastic which alters the plastic’s mechanical, physical, and chemical properties. However, the formation of microbial biofilm on the surface and interior of the plastic initiates this process. Environmental conditions, and the composition and structure of the plastic determine the amount of biofilm produced. Bio-fragmentation occurs when the microorganism emits extracellular enzymes that catalyze, or speed up, the chemical breakdown of plastic polymers into smaller units/structures (monomers). Assimilation occurs when plastic monomers are transported into the cell’s cytoplasm and are oxidized through aerobic respiration, anaerobic respiration, or fermentation to produce energy and stimulate growth. After this process, the monomers may not be completely degraded, but mineralization takes over and entirely degrades the products, carbon dioxide, nitrogen gas, methane, and water. Microbial organisms thrive in the open ocean because it is an area of limited predation. These microorganisms could be beneficial to the clean up of the garbage patch.