Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41498408›Full record

ArticleEnvironmental science & technology2026

Long-Range Transport of Oil by Marine Plastic Debris: Evidence from an 8500 km Journey.

Bryan D James, Luis E A Bezerra, Diane Buhler, Rivelino M Cavalcante, Martha L Aguilera, Bing Chen, Jonas Gros, Ulrich M Hanke, Karin L Lemkau, Robert K Nelson and 16 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Environmental science & technology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

26 authors.

Bryan D JamesDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States.ORCID 0000-0002-6104-8310
Luis E A BezerraInstituto de Ciências do Mar-LABOMAR, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza CE 60165-081, Brazil.
Diane BuhlerFriends of Palm Beach, Palm Beach, Florida 33480, United States.
Rivelino M CavalcanteInstituto de Ciências do Mar-LABOMAR, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza CE 60165-081, Brazil.
Martha L AguileraIon Cyclotron Resonance Program, National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32310, United States.ORCID 0000-0002-7273-5343
Bing ChenNorthern Region Persistent Organic Pollutant Control (NRPOP) Laboratory, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, Memorial University, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador A1B3X5, Canada.ORCID 0000-0003-1041-4525
Jonas GrosIndependent Researcher, Villars-sur-Glâne 1752, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0002-2237-9168
Ulrich M HankeDepartment of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, United States.
Karin L LemkauDepartment of Chemistry, Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington 98225, United States.
Robert K NelsonDepartment of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, United States.ORCID 0000-0003-0534-5801
Sydney F NilesIon Cyclotron Resonance Program, National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32310, United States.ORCID 0000-0002-3487-6612
André H B de OliveiraDepartment of Analytical Chemistry and Physical Chemistry, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza CE 60440900, Brazil.ORCID 0000-0001-6872-5532
Thomas D PitchfordFriends of Palm Beach, Palm Beach, Florida 33480, United States.
Jagoš R RadovićCenter for Petroleum Geochemistry (UH-CPG), Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Houston, Houston, Texas 77204, United States.
Ryan P RodgersIon Cyclotron Resonance Program, National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32310, United States.ORCID 0000-0003-1302-2850
Marcelo O SoaresInstituto de Ciências do Mar-LABOMAR, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza CE 60165-081, Brazil.
Scott A SocolofskyZachry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, United States.
Roger E SummonsDepartment of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, United States.
Robert F SwarthoutDepartment of Chemistry and Fermentation Sciences, Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina 28608, United States.
Carlos E P TeixeiraInstituto de Ciências do Mar-LABOMAR, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza CE 60165-081, Brazil.
David L ValentineMarine Science Institute, University of California-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States.ORCID 0000-0001-5914-9107
Helen K WhiteDepartment of Chemistry, Haverford College, Haverford, Pennsylvania 19041, United States.
Min YangNorthern Region Persistent Organic Pollutant Control (NRPOP) Laboratory, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, Memorial University, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador A1B3X5, Canada.
Eliete Zanardi-LamardoDepartment of Oceanography, Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, PE 50670-901, Brazil.ORCID 0000-0003-3546-6479
Baiyu ZhangNorthern Region Persistent Organic Pollutant Control (NRPOP) Laboratory, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, Memorial University, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador A1B3X5, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-6997-4765
Christopher M ReddyDepartment of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, United States.ORCID 0000-0002-7814-2071

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Weathering processes typically restrict the distance spilled oil travels to a few hundred kilometers in the ocean. Leveraging oiled marine debris as "drifters of opportunity", we tested the hypothesis of the unprecedented long-range (thousands of kilometers) transequatorial transport of oil adhered to marine debris by surface currents. Dispersion modeling backed by historical drift bottle experiments supported the plausibility for this hypothesis, and molecular forensics provided the definitive evidence proving it. Oil carried by marine debris arriving at Palm Beach, Florida in 2020 matched oil from the 2019 Brazil mystery oil spill, having traveled ∼8500 km in ∼240 days. We demonstrate an additive contaminant effect whereby plastic pollution facilitates the long-range transport of oil pollution. These findings underscore that regional inputs into the global ocean can have transboundary impacts.

Indexed as

Petroleum PollutionPlasticsEnvironmental MonitoringWater Pollutants, ChemicalPlasticsWater Pollutants, Chemicalcitizen sciencecocontaminantsmarine debrisoil spillsplastic pollutiontransboundary transport

Identifiers

PMID41498408
PMCPMC12854741

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.