The plastisphere: A morphometric genetic classification of plastic pollutants in the natural environment

Abstract Plastics are synthetic polymers that are extensively used in the modern world, and subsequently abandoned causing severe challenges and destruction to the natural environment. Though initially considered as synthetic replacements to finite natural materials, these have become serious pollutants in every sphere of the Earth, and earning the dubious distinction as a marker of the Anthropogenic Epoch. With approximately 50 basic types of polymers and about 60,000 plastic formulations available in the market and an estimated increase in the annual production rate of 8%, the plastic pollution has become a menace that needs to be documented and addressed properly with an urgent need to formulate strategies for management and mitigation. Accordingly, there has been a great boom recently in the studies related to plastic pollution covering different branches of oceanography, chemical engineering, glaciology, environmental geology, ecotoxicology, biology, agriculture and policy, among others. These attempts place severe constraints on the type, nature and quantum of sample collection, processing, analytical protocols, and units of data reporting etc. Several studies have highlighted the inconsistencies and constraints in comparing and replicating the data and results. In this paper, we address the commonly studied and environmentally important parameters of plastics, such as size, origin, polymer composition, color, shape and toxicity potential and incorporate these into a structured morphometric genetic classification. With the help of notations/codes for each of the subcategories and the generation of quantitative data for these parameters, our classification is aimed to provide a novel and integrated approach to unifying the various aspects of the planet’s ‘plastisphere’. This approach can help in alleviating some of the problems of inconsistencies in investigating and reporting data and in comparing different studies from various regions across the globe.