Research Methodology to Public Policy: Designing an Analysis of Plastic Chemical Leaching in Water

Plastic pollution is a ubiquitous concern throughout the world’s oceans and presents a complexity of issues for environmental health on all scales. Most research and public policy in the United States regarding the subject is focused on the prevention, distribution, and collection of physical micro- and macro-plastics, while the ecological impacts due to chemical leaching of additives from plastics are currently less acknowledged and understood. This project utilizes a three-tiered approach to analyze additive leaching at the intersection of both regulation and research. First, the current landscape of law and policy regarding plastic pollution was examined through a scientific lens to proactively identify areas of concern requiring additional research. This focused on both plastic pollution and chemical regulations internationally and within the United States at the state and national level. Findings suggested that policies regarding plastic chemical additives were nonexistent, but their need was starting to gain recognition at an international level. For the second part, an experimental procedure was designed to analyze the significance of chemical leaching determined from the mass change of plastic pre-production pellets in fresh water. Polyvinyl chloride, polycarbonate, polypropylene, polystyrene, high-density polyethylene, and low-density polyethylene were used for a series of testing periods up to seven days. A significant reduction of mass due to leaching was measured in all plastic types except polycarbonate. Salinity, temperature, and length of the soaking period were highlighted as method design limitations to be considered for future experimental designs. In the third section of this project, the final conclusions from part two are then projected back to plastic pollution policy to provide further suggestions for impactful pathways of incorporating the research findings in support of monitoring ocean health. Suggestions include the development of a chemical additive database, mapping of chemical uptake in ecological food webs, and an expansion of regulation efforts to include chemical additive monitoring in plastic pollution response.