Work

The Offshore Blind Spot: In Situ Microplastic Emissions and Their Fate in the Marine Environment

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Mass–balance discrepancies exist between estimated land-based inputs and observed marine plastic inventories. While current global mass–balance models predominantly treat the open ocean as a passive terminal sink, they overlook the rapid expansion of offshore and deep-sea industrial frontiers. This review identifies offshore and deep-sea activities as active, in situ emission nodes of microplastics (MPs). Through a bibliometric analysis and numerical descriptions of studies, we document that direct offshore emissions are underrepresented in the current literature. By synthesizing these limited quantitative data, preliminary metrics indicate localized MP enrichment signals and elevated biological exposure near specific offshore infrastructures. Furthermore, plastics released directly into the marine environment bypass terrestrial weathering, undergoing distinct multiscale aging pathways governed by the complex interplay of wave-induced physical fragmentation bounded by critical size thresholds, UV-driven chemical photo-oxidation, and biological interactions. We conclude that refining global plastic budgets supports moving toward an integrated ocean-industrial framework. However, the synthesis remains constrained by data scarcity and high methodological heterogeneity across different environmental matrices. Future strategies must prioritize standardized in situ flux quantification and the incorporation of MP emission risks into offshore Environmental Impact Assessments.

Source: Journal of Marine Science and Engineering

DOI: 10.3390/jmse14121128

Authors: Weimin Yao, Yang Yu, Tianqi Yu, Maria Pogojeva, Lei Su