Over the past century, the demand for petroleum products has increased rapidly, leading to higher oil extraction, processing and transportation, which result in numerous oil spills in coastal-marine environments. As the spilled oil can negatively affect the coastal-marine ecosystems, its transport and fates captured a significant interest of the scientific community and regulatory agencies. Typically, the environment has natural mechanisms (e.g., photooxidation, biodegradation, evaporation) to weather/degrade and remove the spilled oil from the environment. Among various oil weathering mechanisms, biodegradation by naturally occurring bacterial populations removes a majority of spilled oil, thus the focus on bioremediation has increased significantly. Helping in the marginal recognition of this promising technique for oil-spill degradation, this paper reviews recently published articles that will help broaden the understanding of the factors affecting biodegradation of spilled oil in coastal-marine environments. The goal of this review is to examine the effects of various environmental variables that contribute to oil degradation in the coastal-marine environments, as well as the factors that influence these processes. Physico-chemical parameters such as temperature, oxygen level, pressure, shoreline energy, salinity, and pH are taken into account. In general, increase in temperature, exposure to sunlight (photooxidation), dissolved oxygen (DO), nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium), shoreline energy (physical advection—waves) and diverse hydrocarbon-degrading microorganisms consortium were found to increase spilled oil degradation in marine environments. In contrast, higher initial oil concentration and seawater pressure can lower oil degradation rates. There is limited information on the influences of seawater pH and salinity on oil degradation, thus warranting additional research. This comprehensive review can be used as a guide for bioremediation modeling and mitigating future oil spill pollution in the marine environment by utilizing the bacteria adapted to certain conditions.

Mesoplastics are emerging environmental pollutants that can pose a threat to the environment. Researching mesoplastics is crucial as they bridge the gap between macroplastics and microplastics by determining their role in plastic fragmentation and pathways, as well as their ecological impact. Investigating mesoplastic sources will help develop targeted policies and mitigation strategies to address plastic pollution. These pollutants are found across aquatic, terrestrial, and agricultural ecosystems. Unlike microplastics, mesoplastics are reviewed in the scientific literature. This paper focuses on existing published research on mesoplastics, determining the trends and synthesizing key findings related to mesoplastic pollution. Research primarily focused on marine and freshwater ecosystems, with surface water and beach sediments being the most studied compartments. Mesoplastics research often offers baseline data, with increased publications from 2014 to 2024, particularly in East Asia. However, certain ecosystems and regions remain underrepresented. Also, mesoplastics can disrupt ecosystems by degrading biodiversity, contaminating soils and waters, and affecting food chains. Mesoplastics can also become vectors for additives and pathogenic microorganisms, highlighting their environmental risks. Various factors influence mesoplastics’ prevalence, including anthropogenic and non-anthropogenic activities. With this, future research should expand into less-studied ecosystems and regions, explore mesoplastic interactions with pollutants and organisms, and promote public awareness, education, and policy measures to reduce plastic use and mitigate pollution globally.

Marine environmental disasters, mostly oil spills and other chemical pollution, cause a negative impact on ecosystems, human health, and the economy throughout Asia. Environmental disasters, in many cases, are driven by industrial negligence, weak regulations, and other anthropogenic activity. Previous research on Asian marine environmental disasters tends to concentrate on discrete, nation-level incidents without a regional overview. Few consider the cross-border environmental, public health, and economic consequences or evaluate governance and policy action across borders. This review bridges these gaps by comparing various marine disasters, their impacts, response issues, governance reforms, and instituted policy mechanisms to enable more interconnected and effective disaster management across the region. Negative impact on public health includes a range of acute respiratory and neurological diseases, as well as chronic psychological trauma, while the common environmental impacts are mostly on biodiversity loss and habitat destruction. Regarding the economic impact, communities are adversely affected by the loss of livelihoods, notably fisheries and tourism, and chronic socio-economic insecurity. Even though there are existing regional agreements, such as the ASEAN Oil Spill Response Action Plan, and global coordination through the IMO, enforcement challenges continue, alongside challenges in allocating resources and cross-border coordination. It is important to have a holistic, multi-disciplinary, and regionally integrated disaster management approach incorporating technological innovation, policy reform, and people’s participation. Future studies must investigate real-time monitoring, policy performance, and the incorporation of indigenous knowledge systems to enhance resilience and governance in Asian marine environmental disaster management.

Single-use plastics (SUPs) are products that are widely used by many people; hence, this article focuses on identifying the major contributor of SUPs in Iligan City through a waste analysis and characterisation study and an investigation of the brand names and manufacturers of these plastics. The labels, typically located on the rear portion of the packaging, were used to identify the brands of the SUPs. The findings revealed that the majority of the generated SUPs were branded, with Nescafé and Lucky Me (6.2%) being the most abundant, which are instant coffee powder and noodle products, respectively. Additionally, Nestlé (13.6%) was the manufacturer responsible for the largest share of branded SUPs, followed by Monde Nissin (9.1%), and Jack ‘n Jill (8.7%). Moreover, branded SUPs were primarily sachets, while unbranded SUPs were mostly plastic labo (i.e., thin plastic film bags without handle). Identifying the leading brands contributing to plastic waste is crucial for holding companies accountable for their environmental and economic impact onto strengthen sustainability efforts, prioritising the reduction of plastic pollution is essential.