{"refrec":{"BRefID":408153,"RR":"<b>Egger, M.; Booth, A.M.; Bosker, T.; Everaert, G.; Garrard, S.L.; Havas, V.; Huntley, H.S.; Koelmans, A.A.; Kvale, K.; Lebreton, L.; Niemann, H.; Pang, P.; Proietti, M.; Puskic, P.; Richon, C.; Royer, S.-J.; Savoca, M.S.; Tjallema, A.; van Vulpen, M.; Zhang, Y.; Zhang, Z.; Mitrano, D.M.</b> (2025). Evaluating the environmental impact of cleaning the North Pacific Garbage Patch. <i>NPG Scientific Reports 15(1)</i>: 16736. <a href=\"https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-00619-w\" target=\"_blank\">https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-00619-w</a>","BEntID":405954,"PublicFlag":1,"CheckedFlag":1,"wosflag":1,"vabbflag":1,"RefStringPartII":". <i>NPG Scientific Reports 15(1)</i>: 16736. <a href=\"https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-00619-w\" target=\"_blank\">https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-00619-w</a>","DocTypID":8,"DocType":"Journal article","MarineFlag":1,"FreshFlag":0,"BrackishFlag":0,"TerrestrialFlag":0,"Authorstring":"Egger, M.; Booth, A.M.; Bosker, T.; Everaert, G.; Garrard, S.L.; Havas, V.; Huntley, H.S.; Koelmans, A.A.; Kvale, K.; Lebreton, L.; Niemann, H.; Pang, P.; Proietti, M.; Puskic, P.; Richon, C.; Royer, S.-J.; Savoca, M.S.; Tjallema, A.; van Vulpen, M.; Zhang, Y.; Zhang, Z.; Mitrano, D.M.","OrigTitleTranslFlag":0,"Authorstringtrunc":"Egger, M. <i>et al.</i>","Englishabstract":"Cleanup of existing plastic pollution is crucial to mitigate its impact on marine ecosystems, but such efforts must ensure benefits outweigh potential environmental damage caused by the cleanup. Here, we present an impact assessment framework and apply it to evaluate whether cleaning the North Pacific Garbage Patch (NPGP) benefits marine life and carbon cycling, using The Ocean Cleanup as a case study. Our findings indicate that marine life is more vulnerable to plastic pollution than to macroplastic cleanup, with average vulnerability scores (1 = low, 3 = high) of 2.3 for macroplastics, 1.9 for microplastics, and 1.8 for cleanup, suggesting a net positive impact. An 80% cleanup could reduce macroplastic concentrations to within reported safe levels for marine mammals and sea turtles. Estimated cleanup-related carbon emissions [0.4–2.9 million metric tons (Mt) in total] are significantly lower than potential long-term microplastics impacts on ocean carbon sequestration (15–30 Mt C per year). However, uncertainties remain regarding effects on air-sea carbon exchange. Our framework serves as a critical tool for assessing trade-offs between plastic pollution and remediation impacts. It demonstrates the environmental net benefits of the proposed NPGP cleanup and can be adapted to similarly evaluate other remediation plans.","AbstractOtherLang":null,"BibLvlCode":"AS","StandardTitle":"Evaluating the environmental impact of cleaning the North Pacific Garbage Patch","OrigTitleLangCode":"en","OrigTitleLangCodeExtended":"eng","OrigTitleLangID":15,"DateLastModified":{"date":"2026-04-17 01:33:00.730550","timezone_type":1,"timezone":"+02:00"},"UserAccessRight":null,"UserAccID":null,"AuthorKeywords":"Marine debris, Ocean plastic pollution, Legacy oceanic plastic pollution, Open-ocean cleanup, Net environmental benefit analysis","OtherDescriptors":null,"Notes":null,"AnaPub":2025,"MonPub":null,"DateUpdate":"2026-01-22","DateCreate":"2025-06-02","SecASFANote":null,"ConfID":null,"PeerRev":1,"VlizCoreFlag":1,"WoScode":"WOS:001497914700002","VABBcode":null,"OpenAcc":1,"DOI":"10.1038/s41598-025-00619-w"},"refs":null,"anarec":{"AnaID":408153,"PubliDate":2025,"Pagination":"16736","XtraPublOfAnaID":null,"ISBN":null,"Volume":"15","Issue":"1","BRefMon":null,"BRefMonRR":null,"BRefXtra":null,"BRefXtraRR":null,"SerBRefID":208093,"SerRR":"Scientific Reports (Nature Publishing Group). Nature Publishing Group: London.  ISSN 2045-2322; e-ISSN 2045-2322","StandardTitleSer":"Scientific Reports (Nature Publishing Group)","ISSN":"2045-2322","AbbrevSer":"NPG Scientific Reports","StandardTitleMon":null,"StartPage":16736,"Pages":null,"ToPubliDate":null,"BRefBibLvlCode":"S","SerNotes":null},"monrec":null,"serrec":null,"relations":null,"relationsRev":null,"addrec":null,"othpubs":null,"ownerships":null,"authors":[{"AutName":"Egger","Firstname":"Matthias","Initials":"M.","Affiliation":"The Ocean Cleanup","Discriminator":null,"CorporateFlag":0,"BEntID":405954,"AutID":479908,"OrderNr":1,"DegrID":null,"EditorFlag":0,"CorrespFlag":0,"IllustratorFlag":0,"ReviserFlag":0,"TranslatorFlag":0,"InsAcronym":null,"InsFSN":"The Ocean Cleanup","ORCID":null,"PersID":40875,"InsID":14945},{"AutName":"Booth","Firstname":"Andy","Initials":"A.M.","Affiliation":"SINTEF Ocean","Discriminator":null,"CorporateFlag":0,"BEntID":405954,"AutID":588564,"OrderNr":2,"DegrID":null,"EditorFlag":0,"CorrespFlag":0,"IllustratorFlag":0,"ReviserFlag":0,"TranslatorFlag":0,"InsAcronym":null,"InsFSN":null,"ORCID":null,"PersID":null,"InsID":null},{"AutName":"Bosker","Firstname":"Thijs","Initials":"T.","Affiliation":"Leiden University","Discriminator":null,"CorporateFlag":0,"BEntID":405954,"AutID":588970,"OrderNr":3,"DegrID":null,"EditorFlag":0,"CorrespFlag":0,"IllustratorFlag":0,"ReviserFlag":0,"TranslatorFlag":0,"InsAcronym":null,"InsFSN":null,"ORCID":null,"PersID":null,"InsID":null},{"AutName":"Everaert","Firstname":"Gert","Initials":"G.","Affiliation":"Flanders Marine Institute","Discriminator":null,"CorporateFlag":0,"BEntID":405954,"AutID":287870,"OrderNr":4,"DegrID":null,"EditorFlag":0,"CorrespFlag":0,"IllustratorFlag":0,"ReviserFlag":0,"TranslatorFlag":0,"InsAcronym":"VLIZ","InsFSN":"Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee","ORCID":"0000-0003-4305-0617","PersID":20323,"InsID":36},{"AutName":"Garrard","Firstname":"Samantha","Initials":"S.L.","Affiliation":null,"Discriminator":null,"CorporateFlag":0,"BEntID":405954,"AutID":216181,"OrderNr":5,"DegrID":null,"EditorFlag":0,"CorrespFlag":0,"IllustratorFlag":0,"ReviserFlag":0,"TranslatorFlag":0,"InsAcronym":null,"InsFSN":null,"ORCID":null,"PersID":null,"InsID":null},{"AutName":"Havas","Firstname":"Vilma","Initials":"V.","Affiliation":null,"Discriminator":null,"CorporateFlag":0,"BEntID":405954,"AutID":456299,"OrderNr":6,"DegrID":null,"EditorFlag":0,"CorrespFlag":0,"IllustratorFlag":0,"ReviserFlag":0,"TranslatorFlag":0,"InsAcronym":null,"InsFSN":null,"ORCID":null,"PersID":null,"InsID":null},{"AutName":"Huntley","Firstname":"Helga","Initials":"H.S.","Affiliation":null,"Discriminator":null,"CorporateFlag":0,"BEntID":405954,"AutID":588971,"OrderNr":7,"DegrID":null,"EditorFlag":0,"CorrespFlag":0,"IllustratorFlag":0,"ReviserFlag":0,"TranslatorFlag":0,"InsAcronym":null,"InsFSN":null,"ORCID":null,"PersID":null,"InsID":null},{"AutName":"Koelmans","Firstname":"Albert","Initials":"A.A.","Affiliation":"Wageningen Univ, Dept Environm Sci, Aquat Ecol & Water Qual Management Grp, NL-6700 AA Wageningen, Netherlands.","Discriminator":null,"CorporateFlag":0,"BEntID":405954,"AutID":303621,"OrderNr":8,"DegrID":null,"EditorFlag":0,"CorrespFlag":0,"IllustratorFlag":0,"ReviserFlag":0,"TranslatorFlag":0,"InsAcronym":null,"InsFSN":null,"ORCID":null,"PersID":null,"InsID":null},{"AutName":"Kvale","Firstname":"Karin","Initials":"K.","Affiliation":null,"Discriminator":null,"CorporateFlag":0,"BEntID":405954,"AutID":487024,"OrderNr":9,"DegrID":null,"EditorFlag":0,"CorrespFlag":0,"IllustratorFlag":0,"ReviserFlag":0,"TranslatorFlag":0,"InsAcronym":null,"InsFSN":null,"ORCID":null,"PersID":null,"InsID":null},{"AutName":"Lebreton","Firstname":"Laurent","Initials":"L.","Affiliation":null,"Discriminator":null,"CorporateFlag":0,"BEntID":405954,"AutID":253318,"OrderNr":10,"DegrID":null,"EditorFlag":0,"CorrespFlag":0,"IllustratorFlag":0,"ReviserFlag":0,"TranslatorFlag":0,"InsAcronym":null,"InsFSN":null,"ORCID":null,"PersID":null,"InsID":null},{"AutName":"Niemann","Firstname":"Helge","Initials":"H.","Affiliation":"MMB","Discriminator":null,"CorporateFlag":0,"BEntID":405954,"AutID":287313,"OrderNr":11,"DegrID":null,"EditorFlag":0,"CorrespFlag":0,"IllustratorFlag":0,"ReviserFlag":0,"TranslatorFlag":0,"InsAcronym":"MMB","InsFSN":"Koninklijk Nederlands Instituut voor Onderzoek der Zee; Marine Microbiology and Biogeochemistry","ORCID":null,"PersID":35336,"InsID":13655},{"AutName":"Pang","Firstname":"Qiaotong","Initials":"P.","Affiliation":null,"Discriminator":null,"CorporateFlag":0,"BEntID":405954,"AutID":588972,"OrderNr":12,"DegrID":null,"EditorFlag":0,"CorrespFlag":0,"IllustratorFlag":0,"ReviserFlag":0,"TranslatorFlag":0,"InsAcronym":null,"InsFSN":null,"ORCID":null,"PersID":null,"InsID":null},{"AutName":"Proietti","Firstname":"Maira","Initials":"M.","Affiliation":null,"Discriminator":null,"CorporateFlag":0,"BEntID":405954,"AutID":253448,"OrderNr":13,"DegrID":null,"EditorFlag":0,"CorrespFlag":0,"IllustratorFlag":0,"ReviserFlag":0,"TranslatorFlag":0,"InsAcronym":null,"InsFSN":null,"ORCID":null,"PersID":null,"InsID":null},{"AutName":"Puskic","Firstname":"Peter","Initials":"P.","Affiliation":null,"Discriminator":null,"CorporateFlag":0,"BEntID":405954,"AutID":588973,"OrderNr":14,"DegrID":null,"EditorFlag":0,"CorrespFlag":0,"IllustratorFlag":0,"ReviserFlag":0,"TranslatorFlag":0,"InsAcronym":null,"InsFSN":null,"ORCID":null,"PersID":null,"InsID":null},{"AutName":"Richon","Firstname":"Camille","Initials":"C.","Affiliation":null,"Discriminator":null,"CorporateFlag":0,"BEntID":405954,"AutID":588974,"OrderNr":15,"DegrID":null,"EditorFlag":0,"CorrespFlag":0,"IllustratorFlag":0,"ReviserFlag":0,"TranslatorFlag":0,"InsAcronym":null,"InsFSN":null,"ORCID":null,"PersID":null,"InsID":null},{"AutName":"Royer","Firstname":"Sarah-Jeanne","Initials":"S.-J.","Affiliation":null,"Discriminator":null,"CorporateFlag":0,"BEntID":405954,"AutID":473323,"OrderNr":16,"DegrID":null,"EditorFlag":0,"CorrespFlag":0,"IllustratorFlag":0,"ReviserFlag":0,"TranslatorFlag":0,"InsAcronym":null,"InsFSN":null,"ORCID":null,"PersID":null,"InsID":null},{"AutName":"Savoca","Firstname":"Matthew","Initials":"M.S.","Affiliation":null,"Discriminator":null,"CorporateFlag":0,"BEntID":405954,"AutID":244768,"OrderNr":17,"DegrID":null,"EditorFlag":0,"CorrespFlag":0,"IllustratorFlag":0,"ReviserFlag":0,"TranslatorFlag":0,"InsAcronym":null,"InsFSN":null,"ORCID":null,"PersID":null,"InsID":null},{"AutName":"Tjallema","Firstname":"Arjen","Initials":"A.","Affiliation":null,"Discriminator":null,"CorporateFlag":0,"BEntID":405954,"AutID":588975,"OrderNr":18,"DegrID":null,"EditorFlag":0,"CorrespFlag":0,"IllustratorFlag":0,"ReviserFlag":0,"TranslatorFlag":0,"InsAcronym":null,"InsFSN":null,"ORCID":null,"PersID":null,"InsID":null},{"AutName":"van Vulpen","Firstname":"Marjolein","Initials":"M.","Affiliation":null,"Discriminator":null,"CorporateFlag":0,"BEntID":405954,"AutID":588976,"OrderNr":19,"DegrID":null,"EditorFlag":0,"CorrespFlag":0,"IllustratorFlag":0,"ReviserFlag":0,"TranslatorFlag":0,"InsAcronym":null,"InsFSN":null,"ORCID":null,"PersID":null,"InsID":null},{"AutName":"Zhang","Firstname":"Yanxu","Initials":"Y.","Affiliation":null,"Discriminator":null,"CorporateFlag":0,"BEntID":405954,"AutID":420345,"OrderNr":20,"DegrID":null,"EditorFlag":0,"CorrespFlag":0,"IllustratorFlag":0,"ReviserFlag":0,"TranslatorFlag":0,"InsAcronym":null,"InsFSN":null,"ORCID":null,"PersID":null,"InsID":null},{"AutName":"Zhang","Firstname":"Ziman","Initials":"Z.","Affiliation":null,"Discriminator":null,"CorporateFlag":0,"BEntID":405954,"AutID":588977,"OrderNr":21,"DegrID":null,"EditorFlag":0,"CorrespFlag":0,"IllustratorFlag":0,"ReviserFlag":0,"TranslatorFlag":0,"InsAcronym":null,"InsFSN":null,"ORCID":null,"PersID":null,"InsID":null},{"AutName":"Mitrano","Firstname":"Denise","Initials":"D.M.","Affiliation":null,"Discriminator":null,"CorporateFlag":0,"BEntID":405954,"AutID":417657,"OrderNr":22,"DegrID":null,"EditorFlag":0,"CorrespFlag":0,"IllustratorFlag":0,"ReviserFlag":0,"TranslatorFlag":0,"InsAcronym":null,"InsFSN":null,"ORCID":null,"PersID":null,"InsID":null}],"mapdetails":null,"datasets":null,"monographs":null,"monparts":null,"serparts":null,"BEntOpen":405954,"BEntPrivate":null,"availability":[{"BInstID":413833,"LibID":36,"BRefID":408153,"EmbargoDate":null,"FullEmbargoDate":null,"PhysMedID":16,"hasOCRd":1,"ShelfLocCode":"413833","RFID":null,"PaidValue":null,"Medium":"Server","Description":"VLIZ Open Access","Acronym":"VLIZ","Library":"Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee","DutchTerm":"Open access","URL":null,"ClassifID":53,"Classification":"Open access","ReqLink":null,"ClassifTypID":1,"URLLocation":"https://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/","SubDir":null,"InternalReq":0,"LoggedInReq":0,"Disclaimer":null,"DutchDisclaimer":null,"FileFormat":".pdf","FileDescr":"pdf","InsPub":1,"InsID":36,"FileFormID":6,"LendableFlag":null,"PublicFlag":1,"orderLib":"A","Notes":null,"AccConID":null,"AccessConstraint":null,"LicURL":null},{"BInstID":419011,"LibID":2779,"BRefID":408153,"EmbargoDate":null,"FullEmbargoDate":null,"PhysMedID":16,"hasOCRd":1,"ShelfLocCode":"419011","RFID":null,"PaidValue":null,"Medium":"Server","Description":null,"Acronym":null,"Library":"NIOZ","DutchTerm":null,"URL":null,"ClassifID":260,"Classification":"NIOZ Open Repository","ReqLink":null,"ClassifTypID":1,"URLLocation":"https://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/","SubDir":1,"InternalReq":null,"LoggedInReq":null,"Disclaimer":"Disclaimer_NIOZ","DutchDisclaimer":null,"FileFormat":".pdf","FileDescr":"pdf","InsPub":1,"InsID":397,"FileFormID":6,"LendableFlag":null,"PublicFlag":1,"orderLib":"NIOZ","Notes":null,"AccConID":21,"AccessConstraint":"Attribution (CC BY)","LicURL":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"}],"litstyles":null,"thespers":null,"arch2discl":221,"SERpubls":[{"PublName":"Nature Publishing Group","City":"London"}],"MONpubls":null,"pictures":[],"thestermsPath":null,"thestermsASFA":null,"taxtermsASFA":null,"geotermsASFA":null,"collections":[{"Collection":"OMA - Open Marien Archief","ShortName":"OMA"}],"conf":null,"proj":null,"Physdatasets":null,"spcols":{"222":{"SpName":"BMB - Belgische Mariene Bibliografie","SpColID":222,"ParSpColID":null,"TopParID":null,"ShortName":"BMB","URLLocation":null,"LibID":36,"OpenRepoFlag":null,"SpTypID":null,"TopParIDNotWebsite":null,"SpColPath":"BMB"},"992":{"SpName":"FRIS (VLIZ) - Flanders Research Information Space","SpColID":992,"ParSpColID":null,"TopParID":null,"ShortName":"FRIS","URLLocation":null,"LibID":36,"OpenRepoFlag":null,"SpTypID":null,"TopParIDNotWebsite":null,"SpColPath":"FRIS"},"805":{"SpName":"Koninklijk Nederlands Instituut voor Onderzoek der Zee","SpColID":805,"ParSpColID":null,"TopParID":null,"ShortName":"NIOZ","URLLocation":"https://www.vliz.be/imis/nioz/imis.php?refid=","LibID":2779,"OpenRepoFlag":1,"SpTypID":1,"TopParIDNotWebsite":null,"SpColPath":"NIOZ"},"221":{"SpName":"OMA - Open Marien Archief","SpColID":221,"ParSpColID":null,"TopParID":null,"ShortName":"OMA","URLLocation":null,"LibID":36,"OpenRepoFlag":1,"SpTypID":null,"TopParIDNotWebsite":null,"SpColPath":"OMA"},"1064":{"SpName":"Peer reviewed VLIZ publications","SpColID":1064,"ParSpColID":null,"TopParID":null,"ShortName":"PR VLIZ pubs","URLLocation":null,"LibID":null,"OpenRepoFlag":null,"SpTypID":null,"TopParIDNotWebsite":null,"SpColPath":"PR VLIZ pubs"}},"doi":null,"publs":null,"serparttypes":null,"monauthors":null,"MParts":null,"SParts":null,"hLibs":null,"langs":[{"BEntID":405954,"AbstractFlag":0,"LangID":15,"LangCode":"en","Lang":"English","DutchTerm":"Engels","LangCodeExtended":"eng"},{"BEntID":405954,"AbstractFlag":1,"LangID":15,"LangCode":"en","Lang":"English","DutchTerm":"Engels","LangCodeExtended":"eng"}],"urls":[{"URL":"https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-00619-w","externalID":"10.1038/s41598-025-00619-w","URLTypeCode":"DOI","URLID":146299,"URLTypID":13,"URLType":"DOI","URLPrefix":"http://dx.doi.org/"}],"thesterms":null,"taxterms":null,"geoterms":null,"othterms":null,"asfacodes":null,"asfa2codes":null,"thestermsFRIS":null,"taxtermsFRIS":null,"geotermsFRIS":null,"othtermsFRIS":null,"resmessage":"","complete":1,"sessions":{"newSesName":"Chisala, Chilekwa, C.","newSesDate":{"date":"2025-06-02 10:09:47.700000","timezone_type":3,"timezone":"Europe/Brussels"},"updSesName":"daan.van.loon@nioz.nl","updSesDate":{"date":"2026-01-22 11:44:09.273000","timezone_type":3,"timezone":"Europe/Brussels"}}}