FACT SHEET - MAY 20, 2022

2021 M/V X-Press Pearl maritime accident:

Recommendations to prepare for andrespond to marine spills of plastic cargo

Figure 1. Unlike previous nurdle spills, which only spilled unaltered
white nurdles, the M/V X-Press Pearl fire created, at least, four
additional forms of plastic: orange nurdles, gray nurdles, burnt
plastic, and combustion remnants.

Fire and oil turned a simple spill into a complex, unprecedented crisisn May 20, 2021, the cargo ship M/V X-Press Pearlcaught fire while anchored off the coast of SriLanka, near the capital city of Colombo. Theship was carrying 1486 containers, of which 1214 held anassortment of raw materials, hazardous chemicals, andfinished products. Included among the cargo were 69
containers of polyethylene plastic preproduction pellets or“nurdles” and 72 containers of lubricating oil. During thefire, an oil sheen was observed near the ship, which wasdetermined to be heavy fuel oil. Nurdles were seen bobbing
within the sheen.

O

Within five days of the fire, white nurdles reached the Sri
Lankan shore, along with irregularly shaped, differentcolored pieces of burnt plastic both smaller and larger than
the white nurdles (Fig. 1). Current estimates suggest ~1680
metric tons of nurdles were spilled, along with burnt plastic
pieces making this the largest plastic spill on record.
The decision by responders to preemptively treat any
recovered material as hazardous was prudent. From
subsequent chemical analyses, the levels of concerningchemicals associated with the spilled plastic warrants moredetailed efforts. An in-depth study is needed to determine
the threat of the already collected waste and remaining
debris to marine and human health.

Freely available reports and publications on the spill:
United Nations Environment Programme. X-Press Pearl Maritime Disaster Sri Lanka.
2021.
de Vos, A., Aluwihare, L., DiBenedetto, M. H., Ward, C. P., Youngs, S., Michel, A. P. M.,
Colson, B. C., Mazzotta, M. G., Walsh, A. N., Nelson, R. K., Reddy, C. M., James, B.
D. The M/V X-Press Pearl Nurdle Spill: Contamination of Burnt Plastic and Unburnt
Nurdles along Sri Lanka’s Beaches. ACS Environmental Au. 2022, 2, 2, 128–135.
Rubesinghe, C., Brosché, S., Withanage, H., Pathragoda, D., Karlsson, T. X-Press
Pearl, a ‘new kind of oil spill’ consisting of a toxic mix of plastics and invisible
chemicals. International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN). 2022.
Sewwandi, M., Hettithanthri, O., Egodage, S. M., Amarathunga, A. A. D., Vithanage,M. Unprecedented marine microplastic contamination from the X-Press Pearlcontainer vessel disaster. Science of the Total Environment. 2022, 828, 154374.
Prepared by:Asha de Vos (Oceanswell), Bryan James, Michael Mazzotta, Anna Michel, ChristopherReddy, Anna Walsh, Collin Ward, Mark Hahn, and Sarah Youngs (Woods HoleOceanographic Institution), Lihini Aluwihare (Scripps Institution of Oceanography),and Gopal Bera, Terry Wade, and Anthony Knapp (Texas A&M University, Geochemicaland Environmental Research Group).
Supported by the following funders of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution:
WHOI Marine Microplastics Catalyst Program, WHOI Marine Microplastics Innovation
Accelerator Program, March Limited, The Seaver Institute, Gerstner Philanthropies,
Wallace Research Foundation, Richard Saltonstall Charitable Foundation, theHarrison Foundation, the Richard Grand Foundation, and others.
Contact: Asha de Vos, asha@oceanswell.org and Christopher Reddy, creddy@whoi.edu

Disclaimer: Please note that these data are preliminary or provisional and are subject to revision.
They are being provided to meet the need for timely best science, and therefore, they are provided without guarantee or warranty (express or implied). These data have not necessarily received
validation, quality assurance, quality control, or approval by WHOI or a WHOI staff member, andare provided on the condition that WHOI shall not be held liable for any damages resulting fromany use of the data. This document and data were created to inform officials and responders
directly involved in the M/V X-Press Pearl disaster, and neither the document nor the underlying
data may be publicly released without prior express written permission.

Samples collected by team member, Dr. Asha de Vos from the Sri Lankan marine conservation research and education organization
Oceanswell on May 25, 2021, have provided an opportunity for physical and chemical inspection and recommendations for further study
and consideration (Table 1).
Table 1. Differences between previous nurdle spills and the M/V X-Press Pearl spill, implications of those differences, and recommendations formanaging them.

Considerations

Nurdle spills
from the past
decade1

Sri Lanka spill(M/V X-PressPearl)

Implications for Sri Lanka

Recommendations for Sri Lanka

Type of Plastic

Polyethylene (PE)or polypropylene(PP)

PE and otherplastics

These types of plastic can persist in theenvironment for years to decades.

Stow containers below deck and reinforce thepackaging used for nurdles to prevent futurespills.

White, Orange,Gray, Black

Heat from the M/V X-Press Pearl fire altered
the color of plastic, resulting in orange nurdles.
Burning resulted in colors ranging from grayto black. These changes may affect visualproperties key to monitoring and clean-up andmay also encourage ingestion by wildlife.

Produce a full accounting of the nurdle cargo
carried by the M/V X-Press Pearl.

Physical Properties
ColorWhite

Establish a consistent set of protocols formonitoring, sample collection, proper chainsof-custody, storage, nomenclature, andarchiving.

Shape

Regular(unaltered)Irregular

Melting and/or burning of the plastics changed
their shape, which is known to affect how
individual pieces move in the ocean. Shape
may also affect monitoring, clean-up, short- andlong- term fate, and both the rate and extent of
natural breakdown.

Size

Uniform (~3 mm)

Variable(<mm to >cm)

Smaller plastic pieces can go undetected andmay pose greater risk to humans and wildlife if
left in the environment. The brittleness of theburnt plastic may facilitate its fragmentation.

Combustion

PAHs2

Oil

PAHs2

Establish a monitoring program to evaluate
these chemicals of concern and those yet
identified that are associated with the spilledplastic.

Synthetic

BPA3

The spilled plastic accumulated elevated levelsof chemicals of concern for human healthand the environment (e.g., total PAH content
ranged from 2600 ng/g for white nurdles, to150000 ng/g for combustion remnants). The
concentration of PAHs in the nurdles and burnt
plastic make them some of the most PAHcontaminated plastic found in the ocean.

The plastic recovered in Sri Lanka was rightly
treated as hazardous waste from the start.
Because of this, special protocols for thehandling, transport, and disposal of the material
were employed. For context, the volume ofmaterial spilled and cleaned from beaches is
equivalent to at least ⅓ of the organic solid
hazardous waste generated by Sri Lankan heavy
industry annually.

Reevaluate the hazardous waste designation
for the spilled plastic in accordance with Sri
Lankan regulations and international standards(e.g., Basel Convention) for hazardous waste
determination. As per the Basel Convention, is
it too hazardous to recycle? Is it too hazardous
to be transported out of the country?

Chemicals of Concern

UV-stabilizers4
Metals5

Waste
Designation

Cd, Co, Cr, Cu,Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb,Sb, Sn, Ti, V, Zn
Solid municipal
waste orrecyclable

Hazardouswaste

Develop physical, chemical, and biologicalmethods to identify the extent of changes
occurring after an event, and the potential
impacts to humans, wildlife and theenvironment.

Develop protocols for citizens and authorities
to safely handle and dispose of the material
cleaned from beaches.
Utilize best practices for mitigating secondary
plastic pollution during handling, transport anddisposal of collected material.

1

Previous container related nurdle spills include the Hong Kong spill of 150 tons (2012), the South African spills of 47 tons (2017) and 175 tons (2020), the North Sea spill of 13 tons (2020), and the New Orleans, Louisiana spill of 25 tons (2020).

2PAHs or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are a class of organic molecules typically found in petroleum and smoke that are known carcinogens.

3

BPA or bisphenol A is a component of many epoxy resins. 349 containers onboard the M/V X-Press Pearl were listed to contain epoxy resin. BPA is acutely toxic to aquatic organisms and is an endocrine disruptor.

4

UV stabilizers are common additives used in plastic to prevent degradation by sunlight and have been shown to bioaccumulate in marine organisms.

5

Heavy metals (e.g., lead) can exert negative impacts on human health and associate with plastic in the environment.