Since the late 1980s, certain pollutants such as phthalic acid esters (PAE) , nonylphenols and bisphenol-A(BPA) have been detected in lakes, rivers and at other sites.  However, it is not clear how and why these chemicals exist in environmental water. The author has studied this matter in detail to clarify how these chemicals are generated from plastics. Plastics are produced from polymeric compounds and additives. Polymeric compound polymers are considered not to dissolve in water or decompose at low temperature. The authors have discovered some plastics to undergo decomposition even at low temperatures or mechanochemicaly. We studied pollution in 32 nations and 16 states in U.S.A, using water and sand samples from 500 points throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Among the decomposition products found are BPA and PAE. These chemicals were detected from sand and water in the coast and open ocean in the world.

New global contamination generated from plastic

246th National Meeting (2013)

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