Pellets di masterbatch carbonato per plastica 2

Machine being monitored by an employee in a 3M Co

Pre-production plastic pellets, commonly known as nurdles, are tiny plastic pellets (smaller than ) that are universally used in the

plastics industry The plastics industry manufactures polymer materials—commonly called plastics—and offers services in plastics important to a range of industries, including packaging, building and construction, electronics, aerospace, manufacturing and transpo ...

for the manufacture of plastic products. These

microplastics Microplastics are "synthetic solid particles or polymeric matrices, with regular or irregular shape and with size ranging from 1 μm to 5 mm, of either primary or secondary manufacturing origin, which are insoluble in water." Microplastics a ...

are made primarily from

polyethylene Polyethylene or polythene (abbreviated PE; IUPAC name polyethene or poly(methylene)) is the most commonly produced plastic. It is a polymer, primarily used for packaging (plastic bags, plastic films, geomembranes and containers including bott ...

polypropylene Polypropylene (PP), also known as polypropene, is a thermoplastic polymer used in a wide variety of applications. It is produced via chain-growth polymerization from the monomer Propene, propylene. Polypropylene belongs to the group of polyolefin ...

polystyrene Polystyrene (PS) is a synthetic polymer made from monomers of the aromatic hydrocarbon styrene. Polystyrene can be solid or foamed. General-purpose polystyrene is clear, hard, and brittle. It is an inexpensive resin per unit weight. It i ...

polyvinyl chloride Polyvinyl chloride (alternatively: poly(vinyl chloride), colloquial: vinyl or polyvinyl; abbreviated: PVC) is the world's third-most widely produced synthetic polymer of plastic (after polyethylene and polypropylene). About 40 million tons of ...

, and other plastics or

synthetic resin Synthetic resins are industrially produced resins, typically viscous substances that convert into rigid polymers by the process of curing. In order to undergo curing, resins typically contain reactive end groups, such as acrylates or epoxides. ...

s. Nurdles are the building block, via

plastic extrusion Plastics extrusion is a high-volume manufacturing process in which raw plastic is melted and formed into a continuous profile. Extrusion produces items such as pipe/tubing, weatherstripping, fencing, deck railings, window frames, plastic ...

injection molding Injection moulding (U.S. spelling: injection molding) is a manufacturing process for producing parts by injecting molten material into a mould, or mold. Injection moulding can be performed with a host of materials mainly including metals (for ...

, for items for everyday life including plastic water bottles, containers, and bags.

Impact on the environment

upSign encouraging the collection of coastal nurdles These plastics can be seen washing up on shorelines of rivers, beaches, and lakes across the world. The earliest date that nurdles were recorded being seen on beaches was around the 1970s but have been recorded as being used earlier around the 1940s and 1950s. The pellets find their way into the ocean in a multitude of ways, including accidental spills in transport, and move quickly as they are small enough to be blown around by wind and also float on water. As nurdles stay out in the world they continue to break down and get even smaller than previously recorded.

Ecosystems

Nurdles can disrupt many ecosystems, as some birds and fish may confuse these plastic pieces for their food and can end up starving because of how much plastic they have eaten. Nurdles can

adsorb Adsorption is the adhesion of atoms, ions or molecules from a gas, liquid or dissolved solid to a surface. This process creates a film of the ''adsorbate'' on the surface of the ''adsorbent''. This process differs from absorption, in which ...

toxins and other harmful chemicals, known as

persistent organic pollutant Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are organic compounds that are resistant to degradation through chemical, biological, and photolytic processes. They are toxic and adversely affect human health and the environment around the world. Because ...

s (POPs), that can be eaten by fish, which can poison them or get caught for human consumption.

Biofilm A biofilm is a Syntrophy, syntrophic Microbial consortium, community of microorganisms in which cell (biology), cells cell adhesion, stick to each other and often also to a surface. These adherent cells become embedded within a slimy ext ...

s can also form on nurdles that hold pathogens harmful to people.

Citizen Science and the Environmental Microplastics Collection

Nurdles that wash up along waterbodies and along railroad tracks are monitored using

citizen science The term citizen science (synonymous to terms like community science, crowd science, crowd-sourced science, civic science, participatory monitoring, or volunteer monitoring) is research conducted with participation from the general public, or am ...

programs. In the United States, community members can monitor nurdles using methods outlined at Nurdlepatrol. Once collected, nurdle specimens can be deposited into the Environmental Microplastics Collection. This collection acts like a natural history collection with specimens collected, their location, time and date of collection, and number of nurdles collected are curated for future research use. Nurdles are traceable, to an extent, to their origin as companies that produce nurdles each have their own "

fingerprint A fingerprint is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. The recovery of partial fingerprints from a crime scene is an important method of forensic science. Moisture and grease on a finger result in fingerprints on surfa ...

" of polymerized chemicals.

References

External links

Plastics industry blamed for 'nurdles' found in Christchurch estuary
{{Plastics Plastics industry

Impact on the environment

Ecosystems

Citizen Science and the Environmental Microplastics Collection

See also

References

External links