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. 2020 Jun 30;117(26):14618-14621.
doi: 10.1073/pnas.2008009117. Epub 2020 Jun 10.

Opinion: We need better data about the environmental persistence of plastic goods

Collin P Ward  1 , Christopher M Reddy  2
Affiliations

Opinion: We need better data about the environmental persistence of plastic goods

Collin P Ward et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. .
No abstract available

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interest.

Figures

None
We don’t have a complete understanding of how long plastic consumer goods last in the environment. Here, artist Mark Dion displays pieces of plastic retrieved from the ocean. Image credit: Tanya Bonakdar Gallery and Mark Dion (artist).
Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Review of 57 information graphics and documents that report environmental lifetimes of common plastic consumer goods. The bars represent the range of estimates, the red circles represent the mean of estimates, and the number of estimates for each plastic good (N) is provided on the right (N = 255 in total). The recycling number corresponds to the base polymer of each good. PET = polyethylene terephthalate, PS = polystyrene, LDPE = low-density polyethylene, PA = polyamide, and PP = polypropylene. Individual lifetime estimates and additional details about the analysis are provided in Table S1 of the Supporting Information. Image credit: Natalie Reiner.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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