Conceptualizing the socio-cultural impacts of marine plastic pollution on human well-being - A perspective

Sea of plastic: representations of the sea and pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors regarding marine plastic pollution in Peru and Chile

Marine plastic pollution remains one of the greatest problems worldwide. Hence, this study explores the attitudes and pro-environmental behaviors of Peruvian and Chilean citizens regarding marine pollution, with an emphasis on plastic pollution. For this, forty-four semi-structured interviews were conducted with Peruvian (n = 24) and Chilean (n = 20) citizens, of which, through thematic analysis, semantic patterns were identified. Results show that the participants' representation of the sea is positive and related to the connection they report having with this environment. Additionally, it was found that the sea fulfills recreational and economic purposes, reflecting an anthropocentric perspective, since it is associated with leisure and resource extraction, respectively. Both purposes are related to the causes of plastic pollution, although with differentiated effects. Anthropocentrism is also reflected in the direction that environmental concern takes towards the impact of this type of pollution predominately on individuals and society. Regarding pro-environmental behaviors, most of the initiatives proposed by the participants in response to marine plastic pollution correspond to individual actions, which could be due to the fact that they perceive a low commitment level from authorities to address the problem. In particular, the Chilean participants attributed a greater role to their authorities in dealing with plastic pollution, which would indicate a more institutional perspective of the problem. Thus, it is proposed that to address marine plastic pollution it is necessary to articulate individual actions with public policies carried out by social stakeholders such as governments, companies and non-governmental organizations, in order to build a more efficient culture of marine protection.

A Facile One-Step Synthesis of Polystyrene/Cellulose (PS@MFC) Biocomposites for the Preparation of Hybrid Water-Absorbing Sponge Materials

The elaboration of a low-cost and effective approach to synthesize hybrid composite materials based on the conventional thermoplastics and natural biopolymers is a sustainable alternative to the production of "traditional" plastics. Cellulose is one of the most abundant biopolymers. Its fibrils possess outstanding mechanical characteristics and, hence, attract considerable interest of researchers during recent decades. However, modification of the hydrophobic polymer matrix by cellulose fibrils is significantly complicated by the hydrophilic nature of the latter. In this study, we propose an effective and low-cost approach to the synthesis of polystyrene at the cellulose microfibrils composite material via the emulsion polymerization method. The obtained fibrous composite was comprehensively analyzed with FTIR spectroscopy, SEM, TGA, and DSC, and was further employed to produce sponge hybrid materials. We investigated the influence of the cellulose/polystyrene ratio on the density, porosity, pore volume, and water uptake of the obtained sponge materials. The sample containing 70 wt.% of cellulose demonstrated the best water absorption properties while preserving its shape, even after 24 h of floating on water. The produced sponge materials might be employed as sorption materials for the purification and desalination of waters of various origins, filtration, and collection of undesirable elements under specific industrial or natural conditions.