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Yang Z, Zhang J, Haruka N, Murat C, Arakawa H. Spectral analysis of environmental microplastic polyethylene (PE) using average spectra. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 927:171871. [PMID: 38531446 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171871] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2023] [Revised: 03/19/2024] [Accepted: 03/20/2024] [Indexed: 03/28/2024]
Abstract
In this study, microplastic samples from surface seawater of Tokyo Bay were collected, polyethylene (PE) microplastics were used to calculate carbonyl index (CI), and average spectra of PE were analyzed and compared with a previous study applying agitation during chemical treatment. It was found that PE and polypropylene (PP) were the predominant polymer type in the samples. Among PE samples, fragments were the most commonly observed shape, with white being the dominant color. Deviations were found in the average spectra among different shapes and colors when compared to the standard PE spectrum. A comparison of the average spectra between the two datasets suggests that pronounced peaks related to oxidation are most likely resulted from agitation during the chemical treatment. Additionally, it was found a closer spectral resemblance between the sample spectra and the spectrum of standard sample of oxidized PE (PEOx) than with the standard PE spectrum, suggesting that using the oxidized PE as a reference spectrum might be more effective for identification. These findings highlight the complex factors affecting the spectral properties of microplastics and highlight the importance of understanding these variations to enhance the accuracy of microplastic identification workflows and understanding of environmental fate of microplastics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zijiang Yang
- Faculty of Marine Resources and Environment, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, Konan 4-5-7, Minato-Ku, Tokyo 108-8477, Japan.
| | - Jiaqi Zhang
- Faculty of Marine Resources and Environment, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, Konan 4-5-7, Minato-Ku, Tokyo 108-8477, Japan.
| | - Nakano Haruka
- Research Institute for Applied Mechanics, Kyushu University, 6-1 Kasuga-Koen, Kasuga, Fukuoka 816-8580, Japan.
| | - Celik Murat
- Faculty of Marine Resources and Environment, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, Konan 4-5-7, Minato-Ku, Tokyo 108-8477, Japan
| | - Hisayuki Arakawa
- Faculty of Marine Resources and Environment, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, Konan 4-5-7, Minato-Ku, Tokyo 108-8477, Japan.
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2
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Perold V, Connan M, Suaria G, Weideman EA, Dilley BJ, Ryan PG. Regurgitated skua pellets containing the remains of South Atlantic seabirds can be used as biomonitors of small buoyant plastics at sea. MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN 2024; 203:116400. [PMID: 38692002 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.116400] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2023] [Revised: 04/15/2024] [Accepted: 04/18/2024] [Indexed: 05/03/2024]
Abstract
Using seabirds as bioindicators of marine plastic pollution requires an understanding of how the plastic retained in each species compares with that found in their environment. We show that brown skua Catharacta antarctica regurgitated pellets can be used to characterise plastics in four seabird taxa breeding in the central South Atlantic, even though skua pellets might underrepresent the smallest plastic items in their prey. Fregetta storm petrels ingested more thread-like plastics and white-faced storm petrels Pelagodroma marina more industrial pellets than broad-billed prions Pachyptila vittata and great shearwaters Ardenna gravis. Ingested plastic composition (type, colour and polymer) was similar to floating plastics in the region sampled with a 200 μm net, but storm petrels were better indicators of the size of plastics than prions and shearwaters. Given this information, plastics in skua pellets containing the remains of seabirds can be used to track long-term changes in floating marine plastics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vonica Perold
- FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, DST-NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa.
| | - Maëlle Connan
- Department of Zoology, Marine Apex Predator Research Unit (MAPRU), Institute for Coastal and Marine Research, Nelson Mandela University, Gqeberha, South Africa
| | - Giuseppe Suaria
- CNR-ISMAR (Institute of Marine Sciences - National Research Council), Lerici 19032, La Spezia, Italy
| | - Eleanor A Weideman
- FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, DST-NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa
| | - Ben J Dilley
- FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, DST-NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa
| | - Peter G Ryan
- FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, DST-NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa
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3
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Dittmar S, Ruhl AS, Altmann K, Jekel M. Settling Velocities of Small Microplastic Fragments and Fibers. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2024; 58:6359-6369. [PMID: 38512318 PMCID: PMC11008250 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c09602] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2023] [Revised: 02/18/2024] [Accepted: 02/22/2024] [Indexed: 03/22/2024]
Abstract
There is only sparse empirical data on the settling velocity of small, nonbuoyant microplastics thus far, although it is an important parameter governing their vertical transport within aquatic environments. This study reports the settling velocities of 4031 exemplary microplastic particles. Focusing on the environmentally most prevalent particle shapes, irregular microplastic fragments of four different polymer types (9-289 μm) and five discrete length fractions (50-600 μm) of common nylon and polyester fibers are investigated, respectively. All settling experiments are carried out in quiescent water by using a specialized optical imaging setup. The method has been previously validated in order to minimize disruptive factors, e.g., thermal convection or particle interactions, and thus enable the precise measurements of the velocities of individual microplastic particles (0.003-9.094 mm/s). Based on the obtained data, ten existing models for predicting a particle's terminal settling velocity are assessed. It is concluded that models, which were specifically deduced from empirical data on larger microplastics, fail to provide accurate predictions for small microplastics. Instead, a different approach is highlighted as a viable option for computing settling velocities across the microplastics continuum in terms of size, density, and shape.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefan Dittmar
- Chair
of Water Quality Control, Technische Universität
Berlin, Sekr. KF4, Straße des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin, Germany
- GEOMAR
Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Wischhofstraße 1−3, 24148 Kiel, Germany
| | - Aki S. Ruhl
- Chair
of Water Quality Control, Technische Universität
Berlin, Sekr. KF4, Straße des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin, Germany
- German
Environment Agency (UBA), Section II 3.3, Schichauweg 58, 12307 Berlin, Germany
| | - Korinna Altmann
- Bundesanstalt
für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM), Unter den Eichen 87, 12205 Berlin, Germany
| | - Martin Jekel
- Chair
of Water Quality Control, Technische Universität
Berlin, Sekr. KF4, Straße des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin, Germany
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4
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He Y, Lu J, Li C, Wang X, Jiang C, Zhu L, Bu X, Jabeen K, Vo TT, Li D. From pollution to solutions: Insights into the sources, transport and management of plastic debris in pristine and urban rivers. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2024; 245:118024. [PMID: 38151151 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.118024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2023] [Revised: 12/13/2023] [Accepted: 12/22/2023] [Indexed: 12/29/2023]
Abstract
River systems are important recipients of environmental plastic pollution and have become key pathways for the transfer of mismanaged waste from the land to the ocean. Understanding the sources and fate of plastic debris, including plastic litter (>5 mm) and microplastics (MPs) (<5 mm), entering different riverine systems is essential to mitigate the ongoing environmental plastic pollution crisis. We comprehensively investigated the plastic pollution in the catchments of two rivers in the Yangtze River basin: an urban river, the Suzhou section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal (SZ); and a pristine rural river, the Jingmen section of the Hanjiang River (JM). The abundance of plastic pollutants in SZ was significantly higher than in JM: 0.430 ± 0.450 items/m3 and 0.003 ± 0.003 items/m3 of plastic litter in the water; 23.47 ± 25.53 n/m3 and 2.78 ± 1.55 n/m3 MPs in the water; and 218.82 ± 77.40 items/kg and 5.30 ± 1.99 items/kg of MPs in the sediment, respectively. Plastic litter and MPs were closely correlated in abundance and polymer composition. Overall, the polymer type, shape and color of MPs were dominant by polypropylene (42.5%), fragment (60.4%) and transparent (40.0%), respectively. Source tracing analysis revealed that packaging, shipping, and wastewater were the primary sources of plastic pollutants. The mantel analysis indicated that socio-economic and geospatial factors play crucial roles in driving the hotspot formation of plastic pollution in river networks. The composition of the MP communities differed significantly between the sediments and the overlying water. The urban riverbed sediments had a more pronounced pollutant 'sink' effect compared with the pristine rivers. These findings suggested that the modification of natural streams during urbanization may influence the transport and fate of plastic pollutants in them. Our results offer pivotal insights into effective preventive measures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yinan He
- State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China; Plastic Marine Debris Research Center, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China; Region Training and Research Center on Plastic Marine Debris and Microplastics, IOC-UNESCO, 200241, China
| | - Jungang Lu
- State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China; Plastic Marine Debris Research Center, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China; Region Training and Research Center on Plastic Marine Debris and Microplastics, IOC-UNESCO, 200241, China
| | - Changjun Li
- Ocean School, Yantai University, Yantai 264005, China
| | - Xiaohui Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China; Plastic Marine Debris Research Center, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China; Region Training and Research Center on Plastic Marine Debris and Microplastics, IOC-UNESCO, 200241, China
| | - Chunhua Jiang
- State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China; Plastic Marine Debris Research Center, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China; Region Training and Research Center on Plastic Marine Debris and Microplastics, IOC-UNESCO, 200241, China
| | - Lixin Zhu
- State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China; Plastic Marine Debris Research Center, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China; Region Training and Research Center on Plastic Marine Debris and Microplastics, IOC-UNESCO, 200241, China
| | - Xinyu Bu
- State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China; Plastic Marine Debris Research Center, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China; Region Training and Research Center on Plastic Marine Debris and Microplastics, IOC-UNESCO, 200241, China
| | - Khalida Jabeen
- State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China; Plastic Marine Debris Research Center, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China; Region Training and Research Center on Plastic Marine Debris and Microplastics, IOC-UNESCO, 200241, China
| | - TuanLinh Tran Vo
- State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China; Plastic Marine Debris Research Center, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China; Region Training and Research Center on Plastic Marine Debris and Microplastics, IOC-UNESCO, 200241, China; Institute of Oceanography, Viet Nam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST), 1 Cau Da Street, Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa 650000, Viet Nam
| | - Daoji Li
- State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China; Plastic Marine Debris Research Center, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China; Region Training and Research Center on Plastic Marine Debris and Microplastics, IOC-UNESCO, 200241, China.
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5
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Mrokowska MM, Krztoń-Maziopa A. Settling of microplastics in mucus-rich water column: The role of biologically modified rheology of seawater. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 912:168767. [PMID: 38008323 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.168767] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2023] [Revised: 11/06/2023] [Accepted: 11/19/2023] [Indexed: 11/28/2023]
Abstract
Non-buoyant microplastics (MPs) sink through the marine water column, adversely affecting the ecosystem. The manner in which MPs influence the water environment depends to a large extent on their settling dynamics, driven by their properties and the physio-chemical characteristics of water column. However, some properties of seawater remain elusive, limiting our ability to fully explain the sinking processes of MPs. One of the gaps in our understanding relates to the elevated content of exopolymers (EPSs) secreted by algae and bacteria, which locally transform seawater into a non-Newtonian liquid, altering the hydrodynamics of particle transport. In this study, we present a series of lab-scale experiments on the dynamics of isometric (spheres and irregular particles) and anisometric (disks, rods, and blades) MPs settling in artificial seawater with the addition of polysaccharides. We find that upon the appearance of EPSs in seawater, the sinking velocity of MPs diminishes and may fluctuate, the orientation pattern changes in a non-intuitive way, and MPs may tumble. As measured in rheological tests, these consequences result from seawater gaining viscoelastic and shear-thinning properties. Our findings raise concerns that mucus-rich seawater may favor the aggregation of MPs with organic matter, interaction with biota, and biofouling, which can affect the biogeochemistry of the marine ecosystem. Based on these findings, we recommend that seawater rheology, modified by excessive amounts of EPSs during algal blooms, should be considered in biogeochemical and microplastic transport models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Magdalena M Mrokowska
- Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Ks. Janusza 64, 01-452 Warsaw, Poland.
| | - Anna Krztoń-Maziopa
- Warsaw University of Technology, Faculty of Chemistry, Noakowskiego St. 3, 00-664 Warsaw, Poland
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6
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Tsuchiya M, Kitahashi T, Nakajima R, Oguri K, Kawamura K, Nakamura A, Nakano K, Maeda Y, Murayama M, Chiba S, Fujikura K. Distribution of microplastics in bathyal- to hadal-depth sediments and transport process along the deep-sea canyon and the Kuroshio Extension in the Northwest Pacific. MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN 2024; 199:115466. [PMID: 37806825 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115466] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2023] [Revised: 08/24/2023] [Accepted: 08/27/2023] [Indexed: 10/10/2023]
Abstract
Understanding microplastic (MP) behavior in oceans is crucial for reducing marine plastic pollution. However, the complex process underlying MP transportation to the deep seafloor remains unknown despite the deep sea being considered its major sink. We focused on MP distribution in Sagami Bay (adjacent to highly populated areas of Japan), the plate triple junction connected through the Sagami Trough, and the abyssal plain immediately below the Kuroshio Extension. We observed the highest number of MPs in the abyssal stations, more than previously reported. The polymer types and aspect ratio of MPs in the abyssal stations significantly differed from those in the bathyal/hadal stations. The study suggests that MPs accumulated in the open ocean surface layer sink to the abyssal plains immediately below it, while MPs from land sources accumulate in the bathyal depth and are transported to the hadal depth near the coast through turbidity currents along the submarine canyon.
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Affiliation(s)
- Masashi Tsuchiya
- Research Institute for Global Change (RIGC), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), 2-15 Natsushima-cho, Yokosuka, Kanagawa 237-0061, Japan.
| | - Tomo Kitahashi
- Research Institute for Global Change (RIGC), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), 2-15 Natsushima-cho, Yokosuka, Kanagawa 237-0061, Japan; KANSO Technos Co., Ltd., 14 Kandahigashimatsushita-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0042, Japan
| | - Ryota Nakajima
- Research Institute for Global Change (RIGC), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), 2-15 Natsushima-cho, Yokosuka, Kanagawa 237-0061, Japan
| | - Kazumasa Oguri
- Research Institute for Global Change (RIGC), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), 2-15 Natsushima-cho, Yokosuka, Kanagawa 237-0061, Japan; Danish Center for Hadal Research (HADAL) and Nordcee, Department of Biology, University of Southern Denmark, 5230 Odense M, Denmark
| | - Kiichiro Kawamura
- Graduate School of Science and Technology for Innovation, Yamaguchi University, 1677-1 Yoshida, Yamaguchi-city, Yamaguchi 753-8512, Japan
| | - Akimu Nakamura
- Graduate School of Science and Technology for Innovation, Yamaguchi University, 1677-1 Yoshida, Yamaguchi-city, Yamaguchi 753-8512, Japan
| | - Kengo Nakano
- Graduate School of Science and Technology for Innovation, Yamaguchi University, 1677-1 Yoshida, Yamaguchi-city, Yamaguchi 753-8512, Japan
| | - Yosaku Maeda
- Institute for Marine-Earth Exploration and Engineering Division (MarE3), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), 2-15 Natsushima-cho, Yokosuka, Kanagawa 237-0061, Japan
| | - Masafumi Murayama
- Center for Advanced Marine Core Research, Kochi University, Monobe, Nankoku, Kochi 783-8502, Japan; Faculty of Agriculture and Marine Science, Kochi University, Monobe, Nankoku, Kochi 783-8502, Japan
| | - Sanae Chiba
- Research Institute for Global Change (RIGC), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), 2-15 Natsushima-cho, Yokosuka, Kanagawa 237-0061, Japan; North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES), 9860 West Saanich Road, Sidney, BC, Canada V8L 4B2
| | - Katsunori Fujikura
- Research Institute for Global Change (RIGC), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), 2-15 Natsushima-cho, Yokosuka, Kanagawa 237-0061, Japan
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Haddock SHD, Choy CA. Life in the Midwater: The Ecology of Deep Pelagic Animals. ANNUAL REVIEW OF MARINE SCIENCE 2024; 16:383-416. [PMID: 38231738 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-marine-031623-095435] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2024]
Abstract
The water column of the deep ocean is dark, cold, low in food, and under crushing pressures, yet it is full of diverse life. Due to its enormous volume, this mesopelagic zone is home to some of the most abundant animals on the planet. Rather than struggling to survive, they thrive-owing to a broad set of adaptations for feeding, behavior, and physiology. Our understanding of these adaptations is constrained by the tools available for exploring the deep sea, but this tool kit is expanding along with technological advances. Each time we apply a new method to the depths, we gain surprising insights about genetics, ecology, behavior, physiology, diversity, and the dynamics of change. These discoveries show structure within the seemingly uniform habitat, limits to the seemingly inexhaustible resources, and vulnerability in the seemingly impervious environment. To understand midwater ecology, we need to reimagine the rules that govern terrestrial ecosystems. By spending more time at depth-with whatever tools are available-we can fill the knowledge gaps and better link ecology to the environment throughout the water column.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steven H D Haddock
- Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, California, USA;
| | - C Anela Choy
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA;
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8
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Gunaalan K, Almeda R, Vianello A, Lorenz C, Iordachescu L, Papacharalampos K, Nielsen TG, Vollertsen J. Does water column stratification influence the vertical distribution of microplastics? ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2024; 340:122865. [PMID: 37926412 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.122865] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2023] [Revised: 10/12/2023] [Accepted: 11/02/2023] [Indexed: 11/07/2023]
Abstract
Microplastic pollution has been confirmed in all marine compartments. However, information on the sub-surface microplastics (MPs) abundance is still limited. The vertical distribution of MPs can be influenced by water column stratification due to water masses of contrasting density. In this study, we investigated the vertical distribution of MPs in relation to the water column structure at nine sites in the Kattegat/Skagerrak (Denmark) in October 2020.A CTD was used to determine the stratification and pycnocline depth before sampling. Plastic-free pump-filter sampling devices were used to collect MPs from water samples (1-3 m3) at different depths. MPs concentration (MPs m-3) ranged from 18 to 87 MP m-3 (Median: 40 MP m-3; n = 9) in surface waters. In the mid waters, concentrations ranged from 16 to 157 MP m-3 (Median: 31 MP m-3; n = 6), while at deeper depths, concentrations ranged from 13 to 95 MP m-3 (Median: 34 MP m-3; n = 9). There was no significant difference in the concentration of MPs between depths. Regardless of the depth, polyester (47%), polypropylene (24%), polyethylene (10%), and polystyrene (9%) were the dominating polymers. Approximately 94% of the MPs fell within the size range of 11-300 μm across all depths. High-density polymers accounted for 68% of the MPs, while low-density polymers accounted for 32% at all depths. Overall, our results show that MPs are ubiquitous in the water column from surface to deep waters; we did not find any impact of water density on the depth distribution of MPs despite the strong water stratification in the Kattegat/Skagerrak.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kuddithamby Gunaalan
- National Institute of Aquatic Resource, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark; Department of the Built Environment, Aalborg University, Denmark.
| | - Rodrigo Almeda
- National Institute of Aquatic Resource, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark; EOMAR, ECOAQUA, University of Las Palmas of Gran Canaria, Spain
| | - Alvise Vianello
- Department of the Built Environment, Aalborg University, Denmark
| | - Claudia Lorenz
- Department of the Built Environment, Aalborg University, Denmark; Department of Science and Environment, Roskilde University, Denmark
| | | | | | | | - Jes Vollertsen
- Department of the Built Environment, Aalborg University, Denmark
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9
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Lu H, Ou Y, Zhao M, Ni Z. Microplastic enrichment capacity of Ctenochaetus striatus from the habitat environment - An example in Xisha, South China Sea. MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN 2023; 197:115756. [PMID: 37976586 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115756] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2023] [Revised: 10/31/2023] [Accepted: 11/02/2023] [Indexed: 11/19/2023]
Abstract
Microplastic pollution is a widespread concern in the global marine environment. In this study, microplastic pollution status in Xisha waters was investigated. Microplastics were found in all seawater samples, and 90.76 % of C. striatus samples were detected with microplastics. The average abundance of microplastics in seawater samples was 0.64 ± 0.39 items/L, and the abundance of microplastics in the gills and gastrointestinal tracts (GITs)of C. striatus was 1.14 ± 0.41 items/L and 1.80 ± 0.49 items/L, respectively. Shapes of microplastics in the seawater and in the gills and GITs of C. striatus were mainly fibers and films, and the majority of the particle sizes being <1 mm, and the polymers were mainly PET. In addition, the abundance of microplastics in the gills and GITs of C. striatus was positively correlated with that in the seawater, and the correlation was higher in the gills than in the GITs, which means that the accumulation of microplastics in the gills was more closely related to their habitats. The positive correlation between microplastic abundance in the gills and GITs of C. striatus and its body size may be due to the fact that larger individuals have greater energetic demands, require more energy requirements, consume more food, and thus increase the chances of ingesting microplastics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huajie Lu
- College of Marine Sciences, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China; Key Laboratory of Marine Ecological Monitoring and Restoration Technologies, MNRs, Shanghai 201306, China; National Distant-water Fisheries Engineering Research Center, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China.
| | - Yuzhe Ou
- College of Marine Sciences, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China
| | - Maolin Zhao
- College of Marine Sciences, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China
| | - Zhenyu Ni
- College of Marine Sciences, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China
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10
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Carlotti F, Gérigny O, Bienvenu D, Ravel C, Fierro-González P, Guilloux L, Makhlouf N, Onrubia JT, Pagano M. Microplastics in the maximum chlorophyll layer along a north-south transect in the Mediterranean Sea in comparison with zooplankton concentrations. MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN 2023; 196:115614. [PMID: 37837786 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115614] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2023] [Revised: 09/27/2023] [Accepted: 09/30/2023] [Indexed: 10/16/2023]
Abstract
The aim of this study was to characterize and quantify microplastics (MPs) at the chlorophyll maximum layer (CML), around 30 to 60 m depth, during a cruise dedicated to the study of contaminants in plankton, the MERITE-HIPPOCAMPE project, along a north-south transect in the western Mediterranean Sea (Tedetti et al., 2023). Plankton were collected by horizontal net tows in this layer using a multinet Hydrobios Midi equipped with 60 μm mesh-size nets. The collected plankton were fractionated through a sieve column for various later contaminant measurements and for zooplankton analysis (Fierro-González et al., 2023). For all stations, samples were also fully examined for microplastics (MPs) for fractions >300 μm. MPs were found at all stations in the CML layer (mean: 42.9 ± 45.4 MPs m-3), of which 96 ± 4 % were fibers. The ratios of mesozooplankton/MPs and detritus/MPs in this CML were respectively 223 ± 315 and 2544 ± 2268. These data are analyzed together with MPs concentrations from sea- surface sampled with a 300 μm net-size Manta net at the same stations. Overall, our observations highlight the very high density of fibers at the CML, mainly associated with aggregates, raising the hypothesis of their interactions with marine snow. Therefore, the importance of marine snow and vertical layering will have to be considered in future MP distribution modelling efforts.
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Affiliation(s)
- François Carlotti
- Aix Marseille Univ, Université de Toulon, CNRS, IRD, MIO UM 110, 13288 Marseille, France.
| | - Olivia Gérigny
- Ifremer, Unité Littoral, Laboratoire Environnement Ressources Provence Azur Corse, Zone portuaire de Brégaillon, CS 20330, 83507 La Seyne-sur-Mer Cedex, France
| | - Dorian Bienvenu
- Aix Marseille Univ, Université de Toulon, CNRS, IRD, MIO UM 110, 13288 Marseille, France
| | - Christophe Ravel
- Ifremer, Unité Littoral, Laboratoire Environnement Ressources Provence Azur Corse, Zone portuaire de Brégaillon, CS 20330, 83507 La Seyne-sur-Mer Cedex, France
| | - Pamela Fierro-González
- Aix Marseille Univ, Université de Toulon, CNRS, IRD, MIO UM 110, 13288 Marseille, France
| | - Loïc Guilloux
- Aix Marseille Univ, Université de Toulon, CNRS, IRD, MIO UM 110, 13288 Marseille, France
| | - Nouha Makhlouf
- Aix Marseille Univ, Université de Toulon, CNRS, IRD, MIO UM 110, 13288 Marseille, France; Université de Carthage, Faculté des Sciences de Bizerte, Bizerte, Tunisia; Université de Tunis El Manar, Faculté des Sciences de Tunis, Laboratoire des Sciences de l'Environnement, Biologie et Physiologie des Organismes Aquatiques, Tunis, Tunisia
| | - Javier Tesán Onrubia
- Aix Marseille Univ, Université de Toulon, CNRS, IRD, MIO UM 110, 13288 Marseille, France
| | - Marc Pagano
- Aix Marseille Univ, Université de Toulon, CNRS, IRD, MIO UM 110, 13288 Marseille, France
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Krikech I, Oliveri Conti G, Pulvirenti E, Rapisarda P, Castrogiovanni M, Maisano M, Le Pennec G, Leermakers M, Ferrante M, Cappello T, Ezziyyani M. Microplastics (≤ 10 μm) bioaccumulation in marine sponges along the Moroccan Mediterranean coast: Insights into species-specific distribution and potential bioindication. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2023; 235:116608. [PMID: 37429403 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.116608] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2023] [Revised: 07/07/2023] [Accepted: 07/08/2023] [Indexed: 07/12/2023]
Abstract
Microplastics (MPs) are pervasive in marine environments and widely recognized as emerging environmental pollutants due to the multifaceted risks they exert on living organisms and ecosystems. Sponges (Phylum Porifera) are essential suspension-feeding organisms that may be highly susceptible to MPs uptake due to their global distribution, unique feeding behavior, and sedentary lifestyle. However, the role of sponges in MP research remains largely underexplored. In the present study, we investigate the presence and abundance of MPs (≤10 μm size) in four sponge species, namely Chondrosia reniformis, Ircinia variabilis, Petrosia ficiformis, and Sarcotragus spinosulus collected from four sites along the Mediterranean coast of Morocco, as well as their spatial distribution. MPs analysis was conducted using an innovative Italian patented extraction methodology coupled with SEM-EDX detection. Our findings reveal the presence of MPs in all collected sponge specimens, indicating a pollution rate of 100%. The abundance of MPs in the four sponge species ranged from 3.95×105 to 1.05×106 particles per gram dry weight of sponge tissue, with significant differences observed among sampling sites but no species-specific differences. These results imply that the uptake of MPs by sponges is likely influenced by aquatic environmental pollution rather than the sponge species themselves. The smallest and largest MPs were identified in C. reniformis and P. ficiformis, with median diameters of 1.84 μm and 2.57 μm, respectively. Overall, this study provides the first evidence and an important baseline for the ingestion of small MP particles in Mediterranean sponges, introducing the hypothesis that they may serve as valuable bioindicators of MP pollution in the near future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Imad Krikech
- Department of Life Sciences, Polydisciplinary Faculty of Larache, Abdelmalek Essaadi University, 745 BP, 92004 Larache, Morocco; Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina, Viale F. Stagno D'Alcontres 31, 98166 Messina, Italy
| | - Gea Oliveri Conti
- Department of Medical, Surgical Sciences and Advanced Technologies "G.F. Ingrassia", University of Catania, Via Santa Sofia 87, 95123 Catania, Italy
| | - Eloise Pulvirenti
- Department of Medical, Surgical Sciences and Advanced Technologies "G.F. Ingrassia", University of Catania, Via Santa Sofia 87, 95123 Catania, Italy
| | - Paola Rapisarda
- Department of Medical, Surgical Sciences and Advanced Technologies "G.F. Ingrassia", University of Catania, Via Santa Sofia 87, 95123 Catania, Italy
| | - Maria Castrogiovanni
- Department of Medical, Surgical Sciences and Advanced Technologies "G.F. Ingrassia", University of Catania, Via Santa Sofia 87, 95123 Catania, Italy
| | - Maria Maisano
- Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina, Viale F. Stagno D'Alcontres 31, 98166 Messina, Italy
| | - Gaël Le Pennec
- Laboratoire de Biotechnologie et de Chimie Marines, EMR CNRS 6076, Université de Bretagne Sud, EA 3884-IUEM, BP 92116, 56321 Lorient, Brittany, France
| | - Martine Leermakers
- Analytical, Environmental and Geochemistry (AMGC), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
| | - Margherita Ferrante
- Department of Medical, Surgical Sciences and Advanced Technologies "G.F. Ingrassia", University of Catania, Via Santa Sofia 87, 95123 Catania, Italy.
| | - Tiziana Cappello
- Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina, Viale F. Stagno D'Alcontres 31, 98166 Messina, Italy.
| | - Mohammed Ezziyyani
- Department of Life Sciences, Polydisciplinary Faculty of Larache, Abdelmalek Essaadi University, 745 BP, 92004 Larache, Morocco.
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12
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Goldstone JV, Lamb DC, Kelly SL, Lepesheva GI, Stegeman JJ. Structural modeling of cytochrome P450 51 from a deep-sea fish points to a novel structural feature in other CYP51s. J Inorg Biochem 2023; 245:112241. [PMID: 37209461 PMCID: PMC10330650 DOI: 10.1016/j.jinorgbio.2023.112241] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2023] [Revised: 04/13/2023] [Accepted: 04/27/2023] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
Cytochromes P450 (CYP), enzymes involved in the metabolism of endogenous and xenobiotic substrates, provide an excellent model system to study how membrane proteins with unique functions have catalytically adapted through evolution. Molecular adaptation of deep-sea proteins to high hydrostatic pressure remains poorly understood. Herein, we have characterized recombinant cytochrome P450 sterol 14α-demethylase (CYP51), an essential enzyme of cholesterol biosynthesis, from an abyssal fish species, Coryphaenoides armatus. C. armatus CYP51 was heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli following N-terminal truncation and purified to homogeneity. Recombinant C. armatus CYP51 bound its sterol substrate lanosterol giving a Type I binding spectra (KD 15 μM) and catalyzed lanosterol 14α-demethylation turnover at 5.8 nmol/min/nmol P450. C. armatus CYP51 also bound the azole antifungals ketoconazole (KD 0.12 μM) and propiconazole (KD 0.54 μM) as determined by Type II absorbance spectra. Comparison of C. armatus CYP51 primary sequence and modeled structures with other CYP51s identified amino acid substitutions that may confer an ability to function under pressures of the deep sea and revealed heretofore undescribed internal cavities in human and other non-deep sea CYP51s. The functional significance of these cavities is not known. PROLOGUE: This paper is dedicated in memory of Michael Waterman and Tsuneo Omura, who as good friends and colleagues enriched our lives. They continue to inspire us.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jared V Goldstone
- Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA
| | - David C Lamb
- Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Science, Swansea University, Swansea SA2 8PP, UK
| | - Steven L Kelly
- Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Science, Swansea University, Swansea SA2 8PP, UK
| | - Galina I Lepesheva
- Department of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - John J Stegeman
- Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA.
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13
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Suaria G, Cappa P, Perold V, Aliani S, Ryan PG. Abundance and composition of small floating plastics in the eastern and southern sectors of the Atlantic Ocean. MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN 2023; 193:115109. [PMID: 37327719 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2023] [Revised: 05/24/2023] [Accepted: 05/27/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
We report the distribution of floating plastics in the eastern and southern sectors of the Atlantic Ocean based on 35 neuston net trawl samples collected during two research cruises in 2016 and 2017. Plastic particles (>200 μm) were found in 69% of net tows, with median densities of 1583 items·km-2 and 5.1 g·km-2. Most particles (80% of 158) were microplastics (<5 mm) of secondary origin (88%), followed by industrial pellets (5%), thin plastic films (4%) and lines/filaments (3%). Due to the large mesh size we used, textile fibers were not considered in this study. μFTIR analysis revealed that most particles found in the net were made of polyethylene (63%), followed by polypropylene (32%) and polystyrene (1%). A transect between 0 and 18°E along 35°S in the South Atlantic Ocean revealed higher densities farther west, supporting the accumulation of floating plastics in the South Atlantic gyre, mainly west of 10°E.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giuseppe Suaria
- CNR-ISMAR (Institute of Marine Sciences - National Research Council), Lerici 19032, La Spezia, Italy.
| | - Paolo Cappa
- Independent Researcher, Sommariva Perno 12040, Italy
| | - Vonica Perold
- FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa
| | - Stefano Aliani
- CNR-ISMAR (Institute of Marine Sciences - National Research Council), Lerici 19032, La Spezia, Italy
| | - Peter G Ryan
- FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa
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14
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More SL, Miller JV, Thornton SA, Chan K, Barber TR, Unice KM. Refinement of a microfurnace pyrolysis-GC-MS method for quantification of tire and road wear particles (TRWP) in sediment and solid matrices. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 874:162305. [PMID: 36801409 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162305] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2022] [Revised: 02/01/2023] [Accepted: 02/13/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Tire and road wear particles (TRWP) are produced by abrasion at the interface of the pavement and tread surface and contain tread rubber with road mineral encrustations. Quantitative thermoanalytical methods capable of estimating TRWP concentrations are needed to assess the prevalence and environmental fate of these particles. However, the presence of complex organic constituents in sediment and other environmental samples presents a challenge to the reliable determination of TRWP concentrations using current pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC-MS) methodologies. We are unaware of a published study evaluating pretreatment and other method refinements for microfurnace Py-GC-MS analysis of the elastomeric polymers in TRWP including polymer-specific deuterated internal standards as specified in ISO Technical Specification (ISO/TS) 20593:2017 and ISO/TS 21396:2017. Thus, potential method refinements were evaluated for microfurnace Py-GC-MS, including chromatography parameter modification, chemical pretreatment, and thermal desorption for cryogenically-milled tire tread (CMTT) samples in an artificial sediment matrix and a sediment field sample. The tire tread dimer markers used for quantification were 4-vinylcyclohexene (4-VCH), a marker for styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) and butadiene rubber (BR), 4-phenylcyclohexene (4-PCH), a marker for SBR, and dipentene (DP), a marker for natural rubber (NR) or isoprene. The resultant modifications included optimization of GC temperature and mass analyzer settings, along with sample pretreatment with potassium hydroxide (KOH) and thermal desorption. Peak resolution was improved while minimizing matrix interferences with overall accuracy and precision consistent with those typically observed in environmental sample analysis. The initial method detection limit for an artificial sediment matrix was approximately 180 mg/kg for a 10 mg sediment sample. A sediment and a retained suspended solids sample were also analyzed to illustrate the applicability of microfurnace Py-GC-MS towards complex environmental sample analysis. These refinements should help encourage the adoption of pyrolysis techniques for mass-based measurements of TRWP in environmental samples both near and distant from roadways.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sharlee L More
- Stantec (ChemRisk), Portland, OR, United States of America.
| | - Julie V Miller
- Stantec (ChemRisk), Pittsburgh, PA, United States of America
| | | | - Kathy Chan
- Stantec (ChemRisk), Arlington, VA, United States of America
| | - Timothy R Barber
- Environmental Resources Management, Cleveland, OH, United States of America
| | - Kenneth M Unice
- Stantec (ChemRisk), Pittsburgh, PA, United States of America
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15
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Choudhury A, Simnani FZ, Singh D, Patel P, Sinha A, Nandi A, Ghosh A, Saha U, Kumari K, Jaganathan SK, Kaushik NK, Panda PK, Suar M, Verma SK. Atmospheric microplastic and nanoplastic: The toxicological paradigm on the cellular system. ECOTOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY 2023; 259:115018. [PMID: 37216859 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2023.115018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2023] [Revised: 05/12/2023] [Accepted: 05/14/2023] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
The increasing demand for plastic in our daily lives has led to global plastic pollution. The improper disposal of plastic has resulted in a massive amount of atmospheric microplastics (MPs), which has further resulted in the production of atmospheric nanoplastics (NPs). Because of its intimate relationship with the environment and human health, microplastic and nanoplastic contamination is becoming a problem. Because microplastics and nanoplastics are microscopic and light, they may penetrate deep into the human lungs. Despite several studies demonstrating the abundance of microplastics and nanoplastics in the air, the potential risks of atmospheric microplastics and nanoplastics remain unknown. Because of its small size, atmospheric nanoplastic characterization has presented significant challenges. This paper describes sampling and characterization procedures for atmospheric microplastics and nanoplastics. This study also examines the numerous harmful effects of plastic particles on human health and other species. There is a significant void in research on the toxicity of airborne microplastics and nanoplastics upon inhalation, which has significant toxicological potential in the future. Further study is needed to determine the influence of microplastic and nanoplastic on pulmonary diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anmol Choudhury
- KIIT School of Biotechnology, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar 751024, Odisha, India
| | | | - Dibyangshee Singh
- KIIT School of Biotechnology, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar 751024, Odisha, India
| | - Paritosh Patel
- KIIT School of Biotechnology, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar 751024, Odisha, India; Plasma Bioscience Research Center, Department of Electrical and Biological Physics, Kwangwoon University, 01897 Seoul, South Korea
| | - Adrija Sinha
- KIIT School of Biotechnology, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar 751024, Odisha, India
| | - Aditya Nandi
- KIIT School of Biotechnology, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar 751024, Odisha, India
| | - Aishee Ghosh
- KIIT School of Biotechnology, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar 751024, Odisha, India
| | - Utsa Saha
- KIIT School of Biotechnology, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar 751024, Odisha, India
| | - Khushbu Kumari
- KIIT School of Biotechnology, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar 751024, Odisha, India
| | - Saravana Kumar Jaganathan
- School of Engineering, College of Science, University of Lincoln, Brayford Pool, Lincoln LN6 7TS, UK
| | - Nagendra Kumar Kaushik
- Plasma Bioscience Research Center, Department of Electrical and Biological Physics, Kwangwoon University, 01897 Seoul, South Korea
| | - Pritam Kumar Panda
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516, SE-75120 Uppsala, Sweden.
| | - Mrutyunjay Suar
- KIIT School of Biotechnology, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar 751024, Odisha, India.
| | - Suresh K Verma
- KIIT School of Biotechnology, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar 751024, Odisha, India.
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16
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Baudena A, Kiko R, Jalón-Rojas I, Pedrotti ML. Low-Density Plastic Debris Dispersion beneath the Mediterranean Sea Surface. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2023; 57:7503-7515. [PMID: 37125732 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.2c08873] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
Plastic is a widespread marine pollutant, with most studies focusing on the distribution of floating plastic debris at the sea surface. Recent evidence, however, indicates a significant presence of such low density plastic in the water column and at the seafloor, but information on its origin and dispersion is lacking. Here, we studied the pathways and fate of sinking plastic debris in the Mediterranean Sea, one of the most polluted world seas. We used a recent Lagrangian plastic-tracking model, forced with realistic parameters, including a maximum estimated sinking speed of 7.8 m/d. Our simulations showed that the locations where particles left the surface differed significantly from those where they reached the seafloor, with lateral transport distances between 119 and 282 km. Furthermore, 60% of particles deposited on the bottom coastal strip (20 km wide) were released from vessels, 20% from the facing country, and 20% from other countries. Theoretical considerations furthermore suggested that biological activities potentially responsible for the sinking of low density plastic occur throughout the water column. Our findings indicate that the responsibility for seafloor plastic pollution is shared among Mediterranean countries, with potential impact on pelagic and benthic biota.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alberto Baudena
- Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Laboratoire d'Océanographie de Villefranche, UMR 7093 LOV, Villefranche-sur-Mer 06230, France
| | - Rainer Kiko
- Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Laboratoire d'Océanographie de Villefranche, UMR 7093 LOV, Villefranche-sur-Mer 06230, France
- GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research 24148 Kiel, Germany
| | - Isabel Jalón-Rojas
- Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, Bordeaux INP, EPOC, UMR 5805, F-33600 Pessac, France
| | - Maria Luiza Pedrotti
- Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Laboratoire d'Océanographie de Villefranche, UMR 7093 LOV, Villefranche-sur-Mer 06230, France
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17
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Zhang M, Xu D, Liu L, Wei Y, Gao B. Vertical Differentiation of Microplastics Influenced by Thermal Stratification in a Deep Reservoir. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2023; 57:6999-7008. [PMID: 37083351 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.2c09448] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Microplastics (MPs) are an emerging environmental concern. However, vertical transport of MPs remains unclear, particularly in deep reservoirs with thermal stratification (TS). In this study, the vertical variation in MP organization, stability, migration, and the driving factors of the profile in a deep reservoir were comprehensively explored. This is the first observation that TS interfaces in a deep reservoir act as a buffer area to retard MP subsidence, especially at the interface between the epilimnion and the metalimnion. Interestingly, there was a size-selection phenomenon for MP sinking. In particular, the high accumulation of large-sized MPs (LMPs; >300 μm) indicated that LMPs were more susceptible to dramatic changes in water density at the TS interfaces. Furthermore, simultaneous analysis of water parameters and MP surface characteristics showed that the drivers of MP deposition were biological to abiotic transitions during different layers, which were influenced by algae and metals. Specifically, scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and microscopic Fourier transform infrared analyses implied that the occurrence of metals on the MP surface can promote MP deposition in the hypolimnion. Our findings demonstrated that TS significantly influenced the MP fate in deep reservoirs, and the hotspot of MP exposure risk for vulnerable benthic organisms on the reservoir floor deserves more attention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mengyu Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Simulation and Regulation of Water Cycle in River Basin, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing 100038, China
- Department of Water Ecology and Environment, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing 100038, China
| | - Dongyu Xu
- Department of Water Ecology and Environment, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing 100038, China
| | - Linghua Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Simulation and Regulation of Water Cycle in River Basin, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing 100038, China
- Department of Water Ecology and Environment, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing 100038, China
| | - Yiting Wei
- Department of Water Ecology and Environment, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing 100038, China
| | - Bo Gao
- State Key Laboratory of Simulation and Regulation of Water Cycle in River Basin, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing 100038, China
- Department of Water Ecology and Environment, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing 100038, China
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18
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Ferreira GVB, Justino AKS, Eduardo LN, Schmidt N, Martins JR, Ménard F, Fauvelle V, Mincarone MM, Lucena-Frédou F. Influencing factors for microplastic intake in abundant deep-sea lanternfishes (Myctophidae). THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 867:161478. [PMID: 36634781 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.161478] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2022] [Revised: 01/04/2023] [Accepted: 01/05/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Plastic debris is ubiquitous in the hydrosphere. Yet, we lack an understanding of contamination among deep-sea species and primarily how each trait can influence microplastic intake. We investigated microplastic contamination in the digestive tract of hyper-abundant mesopelagic lanternfishes (n = 364 individuals) from the Southwestern Tropical Atlantic, captured from 90 to 1000 m depth. Overall, microplastics were detected in most individuals analysed (frequency of occurrence = 68 %). Large microplastics, mostly of a filamentous shape were the most frequent, followed by smaller fragments and foams. Microplastics made of high-density polymers (PET, PVC, PA, SBR rubber) were more prevalent than low-density ones (PE, EVA and PBD rubber), especially under deeper layers. Larger microplastics were detected in lanternfishes captured off the northeastern Brazilian coast (mean 0.88 ± SE 0.06 mm) compared to those from around the Rocas Atoll and Fernando de Noronha Archipelago (0.70 ± 0.07 mm; p≤ 0.05), ∼350 km from the continent. Moreover, lanternfishes that migrate from the upper mesopelagic (200-500 m) to the epipelagic layers (<200 m) had simultaneously the highest intake and the smallest particles (1.65 ± 0.17 particles individual-1 and 0.55 ± 0.07 mm; p≤ 0.05). Biological mediated transport of microplastics from the epipelagic to the mesopelagic waters was evinced, but fishes foraging in shallower layers had the lowest intake (1.11 ± 0.10 part. ind.-1; p≤ 0.05). Furthermore, the jaw length was positively associated with an increment in microplastic intake (Incidence Rate Ratio = 1.1; p≤ 0.05). The lanternfishes that preferably prey upon fish larvae are more prone to microplastic intake than their counterparts, which forage mostly on crustaceans and gelatinous zooplankton (p≤ 0.05).
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Affiliation(s)
- Guilherme V B Ferreira
- Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco (UFRPE), Departamento de Pesca e Aquicultura (DEPAQ), Rua Dom Manuel de Medeiros, s/n, Recife, PE 52171-900, Brazil.
| | - Anne K S Justino
- Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco (UFRPE), Departamento de Pesca e Aquicultura (DEPAQ), Rua Dom Manuel de Medeiros, s/n, Recife, PE 52171-900, Brazil; Université de Toulon, Aix Marseille Univ., CNRS, IRD, Mediterranean Institute of Oceanography, Toulon, France
| | - Leandro N Eduardo
- Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco (UFRPE), Departamento de Pesca e Aquicultura (DEPAQ), Rua Dom Manuel de Medeiros, s/n, Recife, PE 52171-900, Brazil; MARBEC, Univ. Montpellier, CNRS, Ifremer, IRD, Sète, France
| | - Natascha Schmidt
- Aix Marseille Univ., Université de Toulon, CNRS, IRD, Mediterranean Institute of Oceanography, Marseille, France
| | - Júlia R Martins
- Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Instituto de Biodiversidade e Sustentabilidade (NUPEM), Programa de Pós-graduação em Ciências Ambientais e Conservação (PPG-CiAC), Av. São José do Barreto, 764, Macaé, RJ 27965-045, Brazil
| | - Frédéric Ménard
- Aix Marseille Univ., Université de Toulon, CNRS, IRD, Mediterranean Institute of Oceanography, Marseille, France
| | - Vincent Fauvelle
- Université de Toulouse, LEGOS (CNES/CNRS/IRD/UPS), Toulouse, France
| | - Michael M Mincarone
- Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Instituto de Biodiversidade e Sustentabilidade (NUPEM), Av. São José do Barreto, 764, Macaé, RJ 27965-045, Brazil; Chapman University, Schmid College of Science and Technology, 1 University Drive, Orange, CA 92866, USA
| | - Flávia Lucena-Frédou
- Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco (UFRPE), Departamento de Pesca e Aquicultura (DEPAQ), Rua Dom Manuel de Medeiros, s/n, Recife, PE 52171-900, Brazil
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19
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Landrigan PJ, Raps H, Cropper M, Bald C, Brunner M, Canonizado EM, Charles D, Chiles TC, Donohue MJ, Enck J, Fenichel P, Fleming LE, Ferrier-Pages C, Fordham R, Gozt A, Griffin C, Hahn ME, Haryanto B, Hixson R, Ianelli H, James BD, Kumar P, Laborde A, Law KL, Martin K, Mu J, Mulders Y, Mustapha A, Niu J, Pahl S, Park Y, Pedrotti ML, Pitt JA, Ruchirawat M, Seewoo BJ, Spring M, Stegeman JJ, Suk W, Symeonides C, Takada H, Thompson RC, Vicini A, Wang Z, Whitman E, Wirth D, Wolff M, Yousuf AK, Dunlop S. The Minderoo-Monaco Commission on Plastics and Human Health. Ann Glob Health 2023; 89:23. [PMID: 36969097 PMCID: PMC10038118 DOI: 10.5334/aogh.4056] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 48.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2023] [Accepted: 02/14/2023] [Indexed: 03/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Plastics have conveyed great benefits to humanity and made possible some of the most significant advances of modern civilization in fields as diverse as medicine, electronics, aerospace, construction, food packaging, and sports. It is now clear, however, that plastics are also responsible for significant harms to human health, the economy, and the earth's environment. These harms occur at every stage of the plastic life cycle, from extraction of the coal, oil, and gas that are its main feedstocks through to ultimate disposal into the environment. The extent of these harms not been systematically assessed, their magnitude not fully quantified, and their economic costs not comprehensively counted. Goals The goals of this Minderoo-Monaco Commission on Plastics and Human Health are to comprehensively examine plastics' impacts across their life cycle on: (1) human health and well-being; (2) the global environment, especially the ocean; (3) the economy; and (4) vulnerable populations-the poor, minorities, and the world's children. On the basis of this examination, the Commission offers science-based recommendations designed to support development of a Global Plastics Treaty, protect human health, and save lives. Report Structure This Commission report contains seven Sections. Following an Introduction, Section 2 presents a narrative review of the processes involved in plastic production, use, and disposal and notes the hazards to human health and the environment associated with each of these stages. Section 3 describes plastics' impacts on the ocean and notes the potential for plastic in the ocean to enter the marine food web and result in human exposure. Section 4 details plastics' impacts on human health. Section 5 presents a first-order estimate of plastics' health-related economic costs. Section 6 examines the intersection between plastic, social inequity, and environmental injustice. Section 7 presents the Commission's findings and recommendations. Plastics Plastics are complex, highly heterogeneous, synthetic chemical materials. Over 98% of plastics are produced from fossil carbon- coal, oil and gas. Plastics are comprised of a carbon-based polymer backbone and thousands of additional chemicals that are incorporated into polymers to convey specific properties such as color, flexibility, stability, water repellence, flame retardation, and ultraviolet resistance. Many of these added chemicals are highly toxic. They include carcinogens, neurotoxicants and endocrine disruptors such as phthalates, bisphenols, per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), brominated flame retardants, and organophosphate flame retardants. They are integral components of plastic and are responsible for many of plastics' harms to human health and the environment.Global plastic production has increased almost exponentially since World War II, and in this time more than 8,300 megatons (Mt) of plastic have been manufactured. Annual production volume has grown from under 2 Mt in 1950 to 460 Mt in 2019, a 230-fold increase, and is on track to triple by 2060. More than half of all plastic ever made has been produced since 2002. Single-use plastics account for 35-40% of current plastic production and represent the most rapidly growing segment of plastic manufacture.Explosive recent growth in plastics production reflects a deliberate pivot by the integrated multinational fossil-carbon corporations that produce coal, oil and gas and that also manufacture plastics. These corporations are reducing their production of fossil fuels and increasing plastics manufacture. The two principal factors responsible for this pivot are decreasing global demand for carbon-based fuels due to increases in 'green' energy, and massive expansion of oil and gas production due to fracking.Plastic manufacture is energy-intensive and contributes significantly to climate change. At present, plastic production is responsible for an estimated 3.7% of global greenhouse gas emissions, more than the contribution of Brazil. This fraction is projected to increase to 4.5% by 2060 if current trends continue unchecked. Plastic Life Cycle The plastic life cycle has three phases: production, use, and disposal. In production, carbon feedstocks-coal, gas, and oil-are transformed through energy-intensive, catalytic processes into a vast array of products. Plastic use occurs in every aspect of modern life and results in widespread human exposure to the chemicals contained in plastic. Single-use plastics constitute the largest portion of current use, followed by synthetic fibers and construction.Plastic disposal is highly inefficient, with recovery and recycling rates below 10% globally. The result is that an estimated 22 Mt of plastic waste enters the environment each year, much of it single-use plastic and are added to the more than 6 gigatons of plastic waste that have accumulated since 1950. Strategies for disposal of plastic waste include controlled and uncontrolled landfilling, open burning, thermal conversion, and export. Vast quantities of plastic waste are exported each year from high-income to low-income countries, where it accumulates in landfills, pollutes air and water, degrades vital ecosystems, befouls beaches and estuaries, and harms human health-environmental injustice on a global scale. Plastic-laden e-waste is particularly problematic. Environmental Findings Plastics and plastic-associated chemicals are responsible for widespread pollution. They contaminate aquatic (marine and freshwater), terrestrial, and atmospheric environments globally. The ocean is the ultimate destination for much plastic, and plastics are found throughout the ocean, including coastal regions, the sea surface, the deep sea, and polar sea ice. Many plastics appear to resist breakdown in the ocean and could persist in the global environment for decades. Macro- and micro-plastic particles have been identified in hundreds of marine species in all major taxa, including species consumed by humans. Trophic transfer of microplastic particles and the chemicals within them has been demonstrated. Although microplastic particles themselves (>10 µm) appear not to undergo biomagnification, hydrophobic plastic-associated chemicals bioaccumulate in marine animals and biomagnify in marine food webs. The amounts and fates of smaller microplastic and nanoplastic particles (MNPs <10 µm) in aquatic environments are poorly understood, but the potential for harm is worrying given their mobility in biological systems. Adverse environmental impacts of plastic pollution occur at multiple levels from molecular and biochemical to population and ecosystem. MNP contamination of seafood results in direct, though not well quantified, human exposure to plastics and plastic-associated chemicals. Marine plastic pollution endangers the ocean ecosystems upon which all humanity depends for food, oxygen, livelihood, and well-being. Human Health Findings Coal miners, oil workers and gas field workers who extract fossil carbon feedstocks for plastic production suffer increased mortality from traumatic injury, coal workers' pneumoconiosis, silicosis, cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lung cancer. Plastic production workers are at increased risk of leukemia, lymphoma, hepatic angiosarcoma, brain cancer, breast cancer, mesothelioma, neurotoxic injury, and decreased fertility. Workers producing plastic textiles die of bladder cancer, lung cancer, mesothelioma, and interstitial lung disease at increased rates. Plastic recycling workers have increased rates of cardiovascular disease, toxic metal poisoning, neuropathy, and lung cancer. Residents of "fenceline" communities adjacent to plastic production and waste disposal sites experience increased risks of premature birth, low birth weight, asthma, childhood leukemia, cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lung cancer.During use and also in disposal, plastics release toxic chemicals including additives and residual monomers into the environment and into people. National biomonitoring surveys in the USA document population-wide exposures to these chemicals. Plastic additives disrupt endocrine function and increase risk for premature births, neurodevelopmental disorders, male reproductive birth defects, infertility, obesity, cardiovascular disease, renal disease, and cancers. Chemical-laden MNPs formed through the environmental degradation of plastic waste can enter living organisms, including humans. Emerging, albeit still incomplete evidence indicates that MNPs may cause toxicity due to their physical and toxicological effects as well as by acting as vectors that transport toxic chemicals and bacterial pathogens into tissues and cells.Infants in the womb and young children are two populations at particularly high risk of plastic-related health effects. Because of the exquisite sensitivity of early development to hazardous chemicals and children's unique patterns of exposure, plastic-associated exposures are linked to increased risks of prematurity, stillbirth, low birth weight, birth defects of the reproductive organs, neurodevelopmental impairment, impaired lung growth, and childhood cancer. Early-life exposures to plastic-associated chemicals also increase the risk of multiple non-communicable diseases later in life. Economic Findings Plastic's harms to human health result in significant economic costs. We estimate that in 2015 the health-related costs of plastic production exceeded $250 billion (2015 Int$) globally, and that in the USA alone the health costs of disease and disability caused by the plastic-associated chemicals PBDE, BPA and DEHP exceeded $920 billion (2015 Int$). Plastic production results in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions equivalent to 1.96 gigatons of carbon dioxide (CO2e) annually. Using the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) social cost of carbon metric, we estimate the annual costs of these GHG emissions to be $341 billion (2015 Int$).These costs, large as they are, almost certainly underestimate the full economic losses resulting from plastics' negative impacts on human health and the global environment. All of plastics' economic costs-and also its social costs-are externalized by the petrochemical and plastic manufacturing industry and are borne by citizens, taxpayers, and governments in countries around the world without compensation. Social Justice Findings The adverse effects of plastics and plastic pollution on human health, the economy and the environment are not evenly distributed. They disproportionately affect poor, disempowered, and marginalized populations such as workers, racial and ethnic minorities, "fenceline" communities, Indigenous groups, women, and children, all of whom had little to do with creating the current plastics crisis and lack the political influence or the resources to address it. Plastics' harmful impacts across its life cycle are most keenly felt in the Global South, in small island states, and in disenfranchised areas in the Global North. Social and environmental justice (SEJ) principles require reversal of these inequitable burdens to ensure that no group bears a disproportionate share of plastics' negative impacts and that those who benefit economically from plastic bear their fair share of its currently externalized costs. Conclusions It is now clear that current patterns of plastic production, use, and disposal are not sustainable and are responsible for significant harms to human health, the environment, and the economy as well as for deep societal injustices.The main driver of these worsening harms is an almost exponential and still accelerating increase in global plastic production. Plastics' harms are further magnified by low rates of recovery and recycling and by the long persistence of plastic waste in the environment.The thousands of chemicals in plastics-monomers, additives, processing agents, and non-intentionally added substances-include amongst their number known human carcinogens, endocrine disruptors, neurotoxicants, and persistent organic pollutants. These chemicals are responsible for many of plastics' known harms to human and planetary health. The chemicals leach out of plastics, enter the environment, cause pollution, and result in human exposure and disease. All efforts to reduce plastics' hazards must address the hazards of plastic-associated chemicals. Recommendations To protect human and planetary health, especially the health of vulnerable and at-risk populations, and put the world on track to end plastic pollution by 2040, this Commission supports urgent adoption by the world's nations of a strong and comprehensive Global Plastics Treaty in accord with the mandate set forth in the March 2022 resolution of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA).International measures such as a Global Plastics Treaty are needed to curb plastic production and pollution, because the harms to human health and the environment caused by plastics, plastic-associated chemicals and plastic waste transcend national boundaries, are planetary in their scale, and have disproportionate impacts on the health and well-being of people in the world's poorest nations. Effective implementation of the Global Plastics Treaty will require that international action be coordinated and complemented by interventions at the national, regional, and local levels.This Commission urges that a cap on global plastic production with targets, timetables, and national contributions be a central provision of the Global Plastics Treaty. We recommend inclusion of the following additional provisions:The Treaty needs to extend beyond microplastics and marine litter to include all of the many thousands of chemicals incorporated into plastics.The Treaty needs to include a provision banning or severely restricting manufacture and use of unnecessary, avoidable, and problematic plastic items, especially single-use items such as manufactured plastic microbeads.The Treaty needs to include requirements on extended producer responsibility (EPR) that make fossil carbon producers, plastic producers, and the manufacturers of plastic products legally and financially responsible for the safety and end-of-life management of all the materials they produce and sell.The Treaty needs to mandate reductions in the chemical complexity of plastic products; health-protective standards for plastics and plastic additives; a requirement for use of sustainable non-toxic materials; full disclosure of all components; and traceability of components. International cooperation will be essential to implementing and enforcing these standards.The Treaty needs to include SEJ remedies at each stage of the plastic life cycle designed to fill gaps in community knowledge and advance both distributional and procedural equity.This Commission encourages inclusion in the Global Plastic Treaty of a provision calling for exploration of listing at least some plastic polymers as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) under the Stockholm Convention.This Commission encourages a strong interface between the Global Plastics Treaty and the Basel and London Conventions to enhance management of hazardous plastic waste and slow current massive exports of plastic waste into the world's least-developed countries.This Commission recommends the creation of a Permanent Science Policy Advisory Body to guide the Treaty's implementation. The main priorities of this Body would be to guide Member States and other stakeholders in evaluating which solutions are most effective in reducing plastic consumption, enhancing plastic waste recovery and recycling, and curbing the generation of plastic waste. This Body could also assess trade-offs among these solutions and evaluate safer alternatives to current plastics. It could monitor the transnational export of plastic waste. It could coordinate robust oceanic-, land-, and air-based MNP monitoring programs.This Commission recommends urgent investment by national governments in research into solutions to the global plastic crisis. This research will need to determine which solutions are most effective and cost-effective in the context of particular countries and assess the risks and benefits of proposed solutions. Oceanographic and environmental research is needed to better measure concentrations and impacts of plastics <10 µm and understand their distribution and fate in the global environment. Biomedical research is needed to elucidate the human health impacts of plastics, especially MNPs. Summary This Commission finds that plastics are both a boon to humanity and a stealth threat to human and planetary health. Plastics convey enormous benefits, but current linear patterns of plastic production, use, and disposal that pay little attention to sustainable design or safe materials and a near absence of recovery, reuse, and recycling are responsible for grave harms to health, widespread environmental damage, great economic costs, and deep societal injustices. These harms are rapidly worsening.While there remain gaps in knowledge about plastics' harms and uncertainties about their full magnitude, the evidence available today demonstrates unequivocally that these impacts are great and that they will increase in severity in the absence of urgent and effective intervention at global scale. Manufacture and use of essential plastics may continue. However, reckless increases in plastic production, and especially increases in the manufacture of an ever-increasing array of unnecessary single-use plastic products, need to be curbed.Global intervention against the plastic crisis is needed now because the costs of failure to act will be immense.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philip J. Landrigan
- Global Observatory on Planetary Health, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, US
- Centre Scientifique de Monaco, Medical Biology Department, MC
| | - Hervé Raps
- Centre Scientifique de Monaco, Medical Biology Department, MC
| | - Maureen Cropper
- Economics Department, University of Maryland, College Park, US
| | - Caroline Bald
- Global Observatory on Planetary Health, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, US
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Patrick Fenichel
- Université Côte d’Azur
- Centre Hospitalier, Universitaire de Nice, FR
| | - Lora E. Fleming
- European Centre for Environment and Human Health, University of Exeter Medical School, UK
| | | | | | | | - Carly Griffin
- Global Observatory on Planetary Health, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, US
| | - Mark E. Hahn
- Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, US
- Woods Hole Center for Oceans and Human Health, US
| | - Budi Haryanto
- Department of Environmental Health, Universitas Indonesia, ID
- Research Center for Climate Change, Universitas Indonesia, ID
| | - Richard Hixson
- College of Medicine and Health, University of Exeter, UK
| | - Hannah Ianelli
- Global Observatory on Planetary Health, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, US
| | - Bryan D. James
- Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
- Department of Biology, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, US
| | | | - Amalia Laborde
- Department of Toxicology, School of Medicine, University of the Republic, UY
| | | | - Keith Martin
- Consortium of Universities for Global Health, US
| | - Jenna Mu
- Global Observatory on Planetary Health, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, US
| | | | - Adetoun Mustapha
- Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Lagos, Nigeria
- Lead City University, NG
| | - Jia Niu
- Department of Chemistry, Boston College, US
| | - Sabine Pahl
- University of Vienna, Austria
- University of Plymouth, UK
| | | | - Maria-Luiza Pedrotti
- Laboratoire d’Océanographie de Villefranche sur mer (LOV), Sorbonne Université, FR
| | | | | | - Bhedita Jaya Seewoo
- Minderoo Foundation, AU
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, AU
| | | | - John J. Stegeman
- Biology Department and Woods Hole Center for Oceans and Human Health, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, US
| | - William Suk
- Superfund Research Program, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, US
| | | | - Hideshige Takada
- Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry (LOG), Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, JP
| | | | | | - Zhanyun Wang
- Technology and Society Laboratory, WEmpa-Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials and Technology, CH
| | - Ella Whitman
- Global Observatory on Planetary Health, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, US
| | | | | | - Aroub K. Yousuf
- Global Observatory on Planetary Health, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, US
| | - Sarah Dunlop
- Minderoo Foundation, AU
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, AU
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Zhao S, Mincer TJ, Lebreton L, Egger M. Pelagic microplastics in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre: A prevalent anthropogenic component of the particulate organic carbon pool. PNAS NEXUS 2023; 2:pgad070. [PMID: 37007708 PMCID: PMC10062330 DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2022] [Revised: 02/08/2023] [Accepted: 02/27/2023] [Indexed: 03/29/2023]
Abstract
AbstractDue to its ever-increasing ocean inputs, fossil-based microplastics (MP) comprise a considerable constituent in the particulate organic carbon (POC) pool, which is instrumental in ocean biogeochemical cycling. Their distribution within the oceanic water column and the underpinning processes, however, remain unclear. Here we show that MP prevail throughout the water column of the eastern North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, comprising 334 #/m3 (84.5% of plastic particles <100 µm), with exponential relationships between concentrations and water depth in the upper 500-m layer and marked accumulation below this layer. Our results suggest that the biological carbon pump (BCP) strongly contributes to the water column MP redistribution in terms of polymer type, material density and particle size, which in turn could influence the efficiency of organic matter export to the deep sea. We further show that 14C-depleted plastic particles predictably are an emerging nonneglectable perturbation to radiocarbon signatures in the deep ocean through depletion of the 14C/C ratio in the POC pool. Our data provide insight into vertical MP flux and highlight the potential role of MP in alternating the marine particulate pool and interactions with the BCP.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shiye Zhao
- To whom correspondence should be addressed: ;
| | | | - Laurent Lebreton
- The Ocean Cleanup, Rotterdam 3014 JH, The Netherlands
- The Modelling House, Raglan 3297, New Zealand
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Tang L, Feng JC, Li C, Liang J, Zhang S, Yang Z. Global occurrence, drivers, and environmental risks of microplastics in marine environments. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2023; 329:116961. [PMID: 36542885 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.116961] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2022] [Revised: 11/26/2022] [Accepted: 11/30/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
With an increasing quantity of plastic waste being discharged into the oceans, marine microplastic (MP) pollution has received widespread attention. However, the global occurrence characteristics, environmental risks, driving factors, and source-sink relationships remain unclear. In this study, we conducted a meta-analysis based on 165 articles about marine MP pollution. It was found that the global marine MP abundance displayed a significant spatial heterogeneity, and the distribution pattern was influenced by offshore distance, population density, and economic development. The morphological characteristics of MPs showed a significant difference between seawater and marine sediment, and small-size MPs (<1 mm) accounted for the majority of all MPs in the marine environment. The environmental risk assessment revealed that most of the marine MP pollution still remains at low concentrations in the global context, with the Polyurethane (PU), Polyacrylonitrile (PAN), and Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) types of MPs showing high environmental-risk contributions. In addition, land-based waste and marine operations, which were considered to be the dominant sources of marine MPs, primarily aggregated at nearshore submarine areas, in the water column, and in the deep-sea bottom environment. This study suggested that the combination of a meta-analysis and Monte Carlo simulation can provide much valuable information regarding the global occurrence characteristics and environmental risks of marine MPs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li Tang
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Water Quality Improvement and Ecological Restoration for Watersheds, Institute of Environmental and Ecological Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006, China; Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Guangzhou, 511458, PR China
| | - Jing-Chun Feng
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Water Quality Improvement and Ecological Restoration for Watersheds, Institute of Environmental and Ecological Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006, China; Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Guangzhou, 511458, PR China.
| | - Canrong Li
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Water Quality Improvement and Ecological Restoration for Watersheds, Institute of Environmental and Ecological Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006, China; Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Guangzhou, 511458, PR China
| | - Jianzhen Liang
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Water Quality Improvement and Ecological Restoration for Watersheds, Institute of Environmental and Ecological Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006, China; Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Guangzhou, 511458, PR China
| | - Si Zhang
- Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Guangzhou, 511458, PR China; South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510301, PR China
| | - Zhifeng Yang
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Water Quality Improvement and Ecological Restoration for Watersheds, Institute of Environmental and Ecological Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006, China; Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Guangzhou, 511458, PR China
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22
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Bajon R, Huck T, Grima N, Maes C, Blanke B, Richon C, Couvelard X. Influence of waves on the three-dimensional distribution of plastic in the ocean. MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN 2023; 187:114533. [PMID: 36610301 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.114533] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2022] [Revised: 12/22/2022] [Accepted: 12/24/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
The world's oceans are facing plastic pollution, 80 % of which of terrestrial origin flowing from the mismanaged waste of coastal populations and from river discharge. To study the fate of this pollution, the three-dimensional trajectories of neutral plastic particles continuously released for 24 years according to realistic source scenarios are computed using currents from a global ocean-wave coupled model at 14∘ resolution and from a reference ocean-only model. These Lagrangian simulations show that neutral particles accumulate at the surface in the subtropical convergence zones from where they penetrate to about 250 m depth and strongly disperse over 40∘ of latitude. About 5.3 % of the particles remain at the surface with the wave-coupled model currents, whereas only 2 % for the uncoupled model, with some modulation in the location of the convergence zones. Increased surface retention results from upward vertical velocities induced by widespread divergence of waves-induced Stokes transport in the surface layers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raphaël Bajon
- Laboratoire d'Océanographie Physique et Spatiale (UMR 6523 LOPS), Univ. Brest, CNRS, Ifremer, IRD, IUEM, Technopole Brest-Iroise, Plouzané 29280, France.
| | - Thierry Huck
- Laboratoire d'Océanographie Physique et Spatiale (UMR 6523 LOPS), Univ. Brest, CNRS, Ifremer, IRD, IUEM, Technopole Brest-Iroise, Plouzané 29280, France.
| | - Nicolas Grima
- Laboratoire d'Océanographie Physique et Spatiale (UMR 6523 LOPS), Univ. Brest, CNRS, Ifremer, IRD, IUEM, Technopole Brest-Iroise, Plouzané 29280, France.
| | - Christophe Maes
- Laboratoire d'Océanographie Physique et Spatiale (UMR 6523 LOPS), Univ. Brest, CNRS, Ifremer, IRD, IUEM, Technopole Brest-Iroise, Plouzané 29280, France.
| | - Bruno Blanke
- Laboratoire d'Océanographie Physique et Spatiale (UMR 6523 LOPS), Univ. Brest, CNRS, Ifremer, IRD, IUEM, Technopole Brest-Iroise, Plouzané 29280, France.
| | - Camille Richon
- Laboratoire d'Océanographie Physique et Spatiale (UMR 6523 LOPS), Univ. Brest, CNRS, Ifremer, IRD, IUEM, Technopole Brest-Iroise, Plouzané 29280, France.
| | - Xavier Couvelard
- Laboratoire d'Océanographie Physique et Spatiale (UMR 6523 LOPS), Univ. Brest, CNRS, Ifremer, IRD, IUEM, Technopole Brest-Iroise, Plouzané 29280, France.
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23
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Implications of plastic pollution on global marine carbon cycling and climate. Emerg Top Life Sci 2022; 6:359-369. [PMID: 36218383 DOI: 10.1042/etls20220013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2022] [Revised: 09/29/2022] [Accepted: 09/30/2022] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Plastic pollution can both chemically and physically impede marine biota. But it can also provide novel substrates for colonization, and its leachate might stimulate phytoplankton growth. Plastic contains carbon, which is released into the environment upon breakdown. All of these mechanisms have been proposed to contribute global impacts on open ocean carbon cycling and climate from ubiquitous plastic pollution. Laboratory studies produce compelling data showing both stimulation and inhibition of primary producers and disruption of predatory lifecycles at individual scale, but global carbon cycle impacts remain mostly unquantified. Preliminary modelling estimates ecosystem alterations and direct carbon release due to plastic pollution will remain vastly less disruptive to global carbon cycling than the direct damage wrought by fossil fuel carbon emissions. But when considered by mass, carbon in the form of bulky, persistent plastic particles may be disproportionally more influential on biogeochemical cycling than carbon as a gas in the atmosphere or as a dissolved component of seawater. Thus, future research should pay particular attention to the optical and other physical effects of marine plastic pollution on Earth system and ecological function, and resulting impacts on oxygen and nutrient cycling. Improved understanding of the breakdown of plastics in the marine environment should also be considered high-priority, as any potential perturbation of biological carbon cycling by plastic pollution is climate-relevant on centennial timescales and longer.
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Courtene-Jones W, van Gennip S, Penicaud J, Penn E, Thompson RC. Synthetic microplastic abundance and composition along a longitudinal gradient traversing the subtropical gyre in the North Atlantic Ocean. MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN 2022; 185:114371. [PMID: 36423567 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.114371] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2022] [Revised: 11/07/2022] [Accepted: 11/11/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Plastic pollution has been reported in the North Atlantic Ocean since the 1970s, yet limited data over subsequent decades pose challenges when assessing spatio-temporal trends in relation to global leakages and intervention strategies. This study quantified microplastics within the upper ocean along a longitudinal transect of the North Atlantic and its subtropical gyre. Microplastics were sampled from surface and subsurface (-25 m) water using a manta trawl and NIKSIN bottle respectively. The surface water polymer community varied significantly between geographic positions ('inshore', 'gyre', 'open ocean'), and was significantly influenced by fragment quantity. Compared to other positions, the North Atlantic gyre was associated with high concentrations of polyethylene, polypropylene, acrylic and polyamide fragments. Subsurface water was dominated by polyamide and polyester fibres. Backtracked 2-year Lagrangian simulations illustrated connectivity patterns. Continued monitoring of microplastics throughout the water column of the North Atlantic Ocean is required to address knowledge gaps and assess spatio-temporal trends.
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Affiliation(s)
- Winnie Courtene-Jones
- International Marine Litter Research Unit, School of Biological and Marine Sciences, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth, Devon PL4 8AA, UK.
| | | | | | | | - Richard C Thompson
- International Marine Litter Research Unit, School of Biological and Marine Sciences, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth, Devon PL4 8AA, UK
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Wang X, Xing Y, Lv M, Zhang T, Ya H, Jiang B. Recent advances on the effects of microplastics on elements cycling in the environment. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 849:157884. [PMID: 35944635 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157884] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2022] [Revised: 07/28/2022] [Accepted: 08/03/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Microplastics (<5 mm) are an emerging pollutant which have received increasing concern in recent years. Microplastics pose a serious hazard and potential risk to the environment due to their migration, transformation, adsorption and degradation properties. The effects of different types of microplastics on the elemental cycles (carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus cycles) in ecosystems were comprehensively summarized. The impacts of microplastics on the element cycle occur mainly in the soil environment and to less extent in other environments. Microplastics affect carbon sources, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and carbon conversion processes, mainly by affecting plant and animal activities, changing gene abundance, enzyme activity, and microbial community composition. Microplastics can affect nitrogen sources, nitrogen fixation, ammonification, nitrification and denitrification processes by changing gene abundance, enzyme activity and microbial community composition. Microplastics can also influence phosphorus content and phosphorus conversion processes by stimulating enzyme activity and changing the composition of microbial communities. Future research needs to analyze the coupling of multiple microplastics and influencing factors on elemental cycling processes. This work provides a better view of the impacts of microplastics on element cycles and the interaction between microplastics and organisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xin Wang
- School of Energy and Environmental Engineering, University of Science & Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, PR China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Resource-oriented Treatment of Industrial Pollutants, University of Science & Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, PR China
| | - Yi Xing
- School of Energy and Environmental Engineering, University of Science & Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, PR China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Resource-oriented Treatment of Industrial Pollutants, University of Science & Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, PR China
| | - Mingjie Lv
- School of Energy and Environmental Engineering, University of Science & Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, PR China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Resource-oriented Treatment of Industrial Pollutants, University of Science & Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, PR China
| | - Tian Zhang
- School of Energy and Environmental Engineering, University of Science & Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, PR China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Resource-oriented Treatment of Industrial Pollutants, University of Science & Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, PR China
| | - Haobo Ya
- School of Energy and Environmental Engineering, University of Science & Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, PR China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Resource-oriented Treatment of Industrial Pollutants, University of Science & Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, PR China; Zhejiang Development & Planning Institute, Hangzhou 310030, PR China
| | - Bo Jiang
- School of Energy and Environmental Engineering, University of Science & Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, PR China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Resource-oriented Treatment of Industrial Pollutants, University of Science & Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, PR China; National Engineering Laboratory for Site Remediation Technologies, Beijing 100015, PR China.
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26
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Onink V, Kaandorp MLA, van Sebille E, Laufkötter C. Influence of Particle Size and Fragmentation on Large-Scale Microplastic Transport in the Mediterranean Sea. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2022; 56:15528-15540. [PMID: 36270631 PMCID: PMC9671120 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.2c03363] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2022] [Revised: 08/11/2022] [Accepted: 08/16/2022] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
Microplastic particles move three-dimensionally through the ocean, but modeling studies often do not consider size-dependent vertical transport processes. In addition, microplastic fragmentation in ocean environments remains poorly understood, despite fragments making up the majority of microplastic pollution in terms of the number of particles and despite its potential role in mass removal. Here, we first investigate the role of particle size and density on the large-scale transport of microplastics in the Mediterranean Sea and next analyze how fragmentation may affect transport and mass loss of plastics. For progressively smaller particle sizes, microplastics are shown to be less likely to be beached and more likely to reach open water. Smaller particles also generally get mixed deeper, resulting in lower near-surface concentrations of small particles despite their higher total abundance. Microplastic fragmentation is shown to be dominated by beach-based fragmentation, with ocean-based fragmentation processes likely having negligible influence. However, fragmentation remains a slow process acting on decadal time scales and as such likely does not have a major influence on the large-scale distribution of microplastics and mass loss over periods less than 3 years.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victor Onink
- Climate
and Environmental Physics, Physics Institute, University of Bern, 3012Bern, Switzerland
- Oeschger
Centre for Climate Change Research, University
of Bern, 3012Bern, Switzerland
- Institute
for Marine and Atmospheric Research, Utrecht
University, 3584CCUtrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Mikael L. A. Kaandorp
- Institute
for Marine and Atmospheric Research, Utrecht
University, 3584CCUtrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Erik van Sebille
- Institute
for Marine and Atmospheric Research, Utrecht
University, 3584CCUtrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Charlotte Laufkötter
- Climate
and Environmental Physics, Physics Institute, University of Bern, 3012Bern, Switzerland
- Oeschger
Centre for Climate Change Research, University
of Bern, 3012Bern, Switzerland
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27
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Galgani L, Goßmann I, Scholz-Böttcher B, Jiang X, Liu Z, Scheidemann L, Schlundt C, Engel A. Hitchhiking into the Deep: How Microplastic Particles are Exported through the Biological Carbon Pump in the North Atlantic Ocean. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2022; 56:15638-15649. [PMID: 36302504 PMCID: PMC9670853 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.2c04712] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
Understanding residence times of plastic in the ocean is a major knowledge gap in plastic pollution studies. Observations report a large mismatch between plastic load estimates from worldwide production and disposal and actual plastics floating at the sea surface. Surveys of the water column, from the surface to the deep sea, are rare. Most recent work, therefore, addressed the "missing plastic" question using modeling or laboratory approaches proposing biofouling and degradation as the main removal processes in the ocean. Through organic matrices, plastic can affect the biogeochemical and microbial cycling of carbon and nutrients. For the first time, we provide in situ measured vertical fluxes of microplastics deploying drifting sediment traps in the North Atlantic Gyre from 50 m down to 600 m depth, showing that through biogenic polymers plastic can be embedded into rapidly sinking particles also known as marine snow. We furthermore show that the carbon contained in plastic can represent up to 3.8% of the total downward flux of particulate organic carbon. Our results shed light on important pathways regulating the transport of microplastics in marine systems and on potential interactions with the marine carbon cycle, suggesting microplastic removal through the "biological plastic pump".
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Affiliation(s)
- Luisa Galgani
- GEOMAR
Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research Kiel, Düsternbrooker Weg 20, D-24105 Kiel, Germany
- Harbor
Branch Oceanographic Institute, Florida
Atlantic University, 5600 N US1, Fort Pierce, Florida 34946, United
States
| | - Isabel Goßmann
- Institute
for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment (ICBM), Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, P.O. Box 2503, D-26111 Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Barbara Scholz-Böttcher
- Institute
for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment (ICBM), Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, P.O. Box 2503, D-26111 Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Xiangtao Jiang
- The
University of Texas at Austin, Marine Science Institute, 750 Channel View Dr., Port Aransas, Texas 78373, United States
| | - Zhanfei Liu
- The
University of Texas at Austin, Marine Science Institute, 750 Channel View Dr., Port Aransas, Texas 78373, United States
| | - Lindsay Scheidemann
- GEOMAR
Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research Kiel, Düsternbrooker Weg 20, D-24105 Kiel, Germany
| | - Cathleen Schlundt
- GEOMAR
Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research Kiel, Düsternbrooker Weg 20, D-24105 Kiel, Germany
| | - Anja Engel
- GEOMAR
Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research Kiel, Düsternbrooker Weg 20, D-24105 Kiel, Germany
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28
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Queiroz AFDS, da Conceição AS, Chelazzi D, Rollnic M, Cincinelli A, Giarrizzo T, Martinelli Filho JE. First assessment of microplastic and artificial microfiber contamination in surface waters of the Amazon Continental Shelf. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 839:156259. [PMID: 35644394 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.156259] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2022] [Revised: 05/22/2022] [Accepted: 05/23/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The composition and distribution of microplastics (MPs) in the Brazilian Amazon Continental Shelf surface waters are described for the first time. The study was conducted during the 2018 rainy and dry seasons, using 57 water samples collected with aluminum buckets and filtered through a 64-μm mesh. The samples were vacuum-filtered in a still-air box, and the content of each filter was measured, counted, and classified. A total of 12,288 floating MPs were retrieved; particles were present at all 57 sampling points. The mean MP abundance was 3593 ± 2264 items·m-3, with significantly higher values during the rainy season (1500 to 12,967; 4772 ± 2761 items·m-3) than in the dry season (323 to 5733; 2672 ± 1167 items·m-3). Polyamides (PA), polyurethane (PU), and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) were the most common polymers identified through Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis. Cellulose-based textile fibers were also abundant (~40%). Our results indicate that the Amazon Continental Shelf is contaminated with moderate to high levels of MPs; the highest abundances were recorded at stations near land-based sources such as river mouths and large coastal cities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arnaldo Fabrício Dos Santos Queiroz
- Laboratório de Oceanografia Biológica and Centro de Estudos Avançados da Biodiversidade, Universidade Federal do Pará, Av. Augusto Corrêa s/n, Guamá, Belém, PA 66075-110, Brazil; Laboratório de Pesquisa em Monitoramento Ambiental Marinho, Universidade Federal do Pará, Av. Augusto Corrêa s/n, Guamá, Belém, PA 66075-110, Brazil
| | - Amanda Saraiva da Conceição
- Laboratório de Oceanografia Biológica and Centro de Estudos Avançados da Biodiversidade, Universidade Federal do Pará, Av. Augusto Corrêa s/n, Guamá, Belém, PA 66075-110, Brazil
| | - David Chelazzi
- Department of Chemistry "Ugo Schiff" and CSGI, University of Florence, Via della Lastruccia 3, 50019, Sesto Fiorentino, Florence, Italy.
| | - Marcelo Rollnic
- Laboratório de Pesquisa em Monitoramento Ambiental Marinho, Universidade Federal do Pará, Av. Augusto Corrêa s/n, Guamá, Belém, PA 66075-110, Brazil
| | - Alessandra Cincinelli
- Department of Chemistry "Ugo Schiff" and CSGI, University of Florence, Via della Lastruccia 3, 50019, Sesto Fiorentino, Florence, Italy
| | - Tommaso Giarrizzo
- Grupo de Ecologia Aquática. Espaço Inovação do Parque de Ciência e Tecnologia Guamá (PCT Guamá), Belém, Guamá, Pará, Brazil; Instituto de Ciências do Mar (LABOMAR), Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC), Avenida da Abolição, 3207, Fortaleza, Brazil
| | - José Eduardo Martinelli Filho
- Laboratório de Oceanografia Biológica and Centro de Estudos Avançados da Biodiversidade, Universidade Federal do Pará, Av. Augusto Corrêa s/n, Guamá, Belém, PA 66075-110, Brazil; Laboratório de Pesquisa em Monitoramento Ambiental Marinho, Universidade Federal do Pará, Av. Augusto Corrêa s/n, Guamá, Belém, PA 66075-110, Brazil.
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29
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Vaksmaa A, Egger M, Lüke C, Martins PD, Rosselli R, Asbun AA, Niemann H. Microbial communities on plastic particles in surface waters differ from subsurface waters of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN 2022; 182:113949. [PMID: 35932724 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.113949] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2022] [Revised: 07/08/2022] [Accepted: 07/11/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The long-term fate of plastics in the ocean and their interactions with marine microorganisms remain poorly understood. In particular, the role of sinking plastic particles as a transport vector for surface microbes towards the deep sea has not been investigated. Here, we present the first data on the composition of microbial communities on floating and suspended plastic particles recovered from the surface to the bathypelagic water column (0-2000 m water depth) of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. Microbial community composition of suspended plastic particles differed from that of plastic particles afloat at the sea surface. However, in both compartments, a diversity of hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria was identified. These findings indicate that microbial community members initially present on floating plastics are quickly replaced by microorganisms acquired from deeper water layers, thus suggesting a limited efficiency of sinking plastic particles to vertically transport microorganisms in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annika Vaksmaa
- Department of Marine Microbiology & Biogeochemistry, NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, 't Horntje, the Netherlands.
| | - Matthias Egger
- The Ocean Cleanup, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Egger Research and Consulting, St. Gallen, Switzerland
| | - Claudia Lüke
- Radboud University, Department of Microbiology, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | | | - Riccardo Rosselli
- Departamento de Fisiología, Genética y Microbiología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Alicante, Spain; LABAQUA S.A.U, C/Dracma 16-18, Pol. Ind. Las Atalayas, 03114 Alicante, Spain
| | - Alejandro Abdala Asbun
- Department of Marine Microbiology & Biogeochemistry, NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, 't Horntje, the Netherlands
| | - Helge Niemann
- Department of Marine Microbiology & Biogeochemistry, NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, 't Horntje, the Netherlands; Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
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30
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Pelagic distribution of plastic debris (> 500 µm) and marine organisms in the upper layer of the North Atlantic Ocean. Sci Rep 2022; 12:13465. [PMID: 35953623 PMCID: PMC9372048 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-17742-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2022] [Accepted: 07/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
At present, the distribution of plastic debris in the ocean water column remains largely unknown. Such information, however, is required to assess the exposure of marine organisms to plastic pollution as well as to calculate the ocean plastic mass balance. Here, we provide water column profiles (0–300 m water depth) of plastic (0.05–5 cm in size) concentration and key planktonic species from the eastern North Atlantic Ocean. The amount of plastic decreases rapidly in the upper few meters, from ~ 1 item/m3 (~ 1000 µg/m3) at the sea surface to values of ~ 0.001–0.01 items/m3 (~ 0.1–10 µg/m3) at 300 m depth. Ratios of plastic to plankton varied between ~ 10–5 and 1 plastic particles per individual with highest ratios typically found in the surface waters. We further observed that pelagic ratios were generally higher in the water column below the subtropical gyre compared to those in more coastal ecosystems. Lastly, we show plastic to (non-gelatinous) plankton ratios could be as high as ~ 102–107 plastic particles per individual when considering reported concentrations of small microplastics < 100 μm. Plastic pollution in our oceans may therefore soon exceed estimated safe concentrations for many pelagic species.
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31
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Kvale K. What are small-size microplastic distributions telling us? GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2022; 28:2843-2845. [PMID: 35170150 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2022] [Revised: 02/11/2022] [Accepted: 02/11/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Writing in this issue of Global Change Biology, Shiye Zhao and co-authors report a microplastic soup extending thousands of meters below the South Atlantic Subtropical Gyre. This discovery contributes two pieces to the missing plastic puzzle- (1) nets have been under-sampling the smallest microplastic size fraction, which is actually not missing when using high-volume filtration, and (2) small microplastics in particular find their way below the surface. But their results also contribute several new questions, because some of what they found is quite surprising. This article is a Research Article on Zhao et al., https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16089.
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