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Leistenschneider C, Wu F, Primpke S, Gerdts G, Burkhardt-Holm P. Unveiling high concentrations of small microplastics (11-500 μm) in surface water samples from the southern Weddell Sea off Antarctica. Sci Total Environ 2024; 927:172124. [PMID: 38565351 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.172124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2024] [Revised: 03/27/2024] [Accepted: 03/29/2024] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
Recent studies have highlighted the prevalence of microplastic (MP) pollution in the global marine environment and these pollutants have been found to contaminate even remote regions, including the Southern Ocean south of the polar front. Previous studies in this region have mostly focused on MPs larger than 300 μm, potentially underestimating the extent of MP pollution. This study is the first to investigate MPs in marine surface waters south of the polar front, with a focus on small MPs 500-11 μm in size. Seventeen surface water samples were collected in the southern Weddell Sea using an in-house-designed sampling system. The analysis of the entire sample using micro-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (μFTIR) with focal plane array (FPA) detection revealed the presence of MPs in all samples, with the vast majority of the MPs detected being smaller than 300 μm (98.3 %). The mean concentration reached 43.5 (± 83.8) MPs m-3, with a wide range from 0.5 to 267.2 MPs m-3. The samples with the highest concentrations differed from the other samples in that they were collected north of the continental slope and the Antarctic Slope Current. Sea ice conditions possibly also influenced these varying concentrations. This study reports high concentrations of MPs compared to other studies in the region. It emphasizes the need to analyze small MPs, down to a size of 11 μm or even smaller, in the Antarctic Treaty Area to gain a more comprehensive understanding of MP pollution and its potential ecological impacts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clara Leistenschneider
- Man-Society-Environment Program, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Basel, Vesalgasse 1, 4051 Basel, Switzerland; Shelf Sea System Ecology, Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Kurpromenade 201, 27498 Helgoland, Germany
| | - Fangzhu Wu
- Shelf Sea System Ecology, Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Kurpromenade 201, 27498 Helgoland, Germany
| | - Sebastian Primpke
- Shelf Sea System Ecology, Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Kurpromenade 201, 27498 Helgoland, Germany
| | - Gunnar Gerdts
- Shelf Sea System Ecology, Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Kurpromenade 201, 27498 Helgoland, Germany
| | - Patricia Burkhardt-Holm
- Man-Society-Environment Program, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Basel, Vesalgasse 1, 4051 Basel, Switzerland
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Leistenschneider C, Le Bohec C, Eisen O, Houstin A, Neff S, Primpke S, Zitterbart DP, Burkhardt-Holm P, Gerdts G. No evidence of microplastic ingestion in emperor penguin chicks (Aptenodytes forsteri) from the Atka Bay colony (Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica). Sci Total Environ 2022; 851:158314. [PMID: 36041615 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158314] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2022] [Revised: 08/12/2022] [Accepted: 08/23/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Microplastic (<5 mm; MP) pollution has been an emerging threat for marine ecosystems around the globe with increasing evidence that even the world's most remote areas, including Antarctica, are no longer unaffected. Few studies however, have examined MP in Antarctic biota, and especially those from Antarctic regions with low human activity, meaning little is known about the extent to which biota are affected. The aim of this study was to investigate, for the first time, the occurrence of MP in the emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri), the only penguin species breeding around Antarctica during the austral winter, and an endemic apex predator in the Southern Ocean. To assess MP ingestion, the gizzards of 41 emperor penguin chicks from Atka Bay colony (Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica), were dissected and analyzed for MP >500 μm using Attenuated Total Reflection Fourier-transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. A total of 85 putative particles, mostly in the shape of fibers (65.9 %), were sorted. However, none of the particles were identified as MP applying state-of-the-art methodology. Sorted fibers were further evidenced to originate from contamination during sample processing and analyses. We find that MP concentrations in the local food web of the Weddell Sea and Dronning Maud Land coastal and marginal sea-ice regions; the feeding grounds to chick-rearing emperor penguin adults, are currently at such low levels that no detectable biomagnification is occurring via trophic transfer. Being in contrast to MP studies on other Antarctic and sub-Antarctic penguin species, our comparative discussion including these studies, highlights the importance for standardized procedures for sampling, sample processing and analyses to obtain comparable results. We further discuss other stomach contents and their potential role for MP detection, as well as providing a baseline for the long-term monitoring of MP in apex predator species from this region.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clara Leistenschneider
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Man-Society-Environment Program, University of Basel, Vesalgasse 1, 4051 Basel, Switzerland; Department of Microbial Ecology, Biologische Anstalt Helgoland, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Kurpromenade, 27498 Helgoland, Germany.
| | - Céline Le Bohec
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université de Strasbourg, IPHC UMR, 7178 Strasbourg, France; Centre Scientifique de Monaco, Département de Biologie Polaire, Monaco City, Monaco
| | - Olaf Eisen
- Glaciology, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar und Meeresforschung, Bremerhaven, Germany and Department of Geosciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
| | - Aymeric Houstin
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université de Strasbourg, IPHC UMR, 7178 Strasbourg, France; Centre Scientifique de Monaco, Département de Biologie Polaire, Monaco City, Monaco
| | - Simon Neff
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Cologne, Zülpicher Straße 47b, 50674 Cologne, Germany
| | - Sebastian Primpke
- Department of Microbial Ecology, Biologische Anstalt Helgoland, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Kurpromenade, 27498 Helgoland, Germany
| | - Daniel P Zitterbart
- Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, USA; Department of Physics, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany
| | - Patricia Burkhardt-Holm
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Man-Society-Environment Program, University of Basel, Vesalgasse 1, 4051 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Gunnar Gerdts
- Department of Microbial Ecology, Biologische Anstalt Helgoland, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Kurpromenade, 27498 Helgoland, Germany
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Leistenschneider C, Burkhardt-Holm P, Mani T, Primpke S, Taubner H, Gerdts G. Microplastics in the Weddell Sea (Antarctica): A Forensic Approach for Discrimination between Environmental and Vessel-Induced Microplastics. Environ Sci Technol 2021; 55:15900-15911. [PMID: 34841863 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.1c05207] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
Microplastic (MP) pollution has been found in the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica, but many local regions within this vast area remain uninvestigated. The remote Weddell Sea contributes to the global thermohaline circulation, and one of the two Antarctic gyres is located in that region. In the present study, we evaluate MP (>300 μm) concentration and composition in surface (n = 34) and subsurface water samples (n = 79, ∼11.2 m depth) of the Weddell Sea. All putative MP were analyzed by attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. MP was found in 65% of surface and 11.4% of subsurface samples, with mean (±standard deviation (SD)) concentrations of 0.01 (±0.01 SD) MP m-3 and 0.04 (±0.1 SD) MP m-3, respectively, being within the range of previously reported values for regions south of the Polar Front. Additionally, we aimed to determine whether identified paint fragments (n = 394) derive from the research vessel. Environmentally sampled fragments (n = 101) with similar ATR-FTIR spectra to reference paints from the research vessel and fresh paint references generated in the laboratory were further subjected to micro-X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (μXRF) to compare their elemental composition. This revealed that 45.5% of all recovered MP derived from vessel-induced contamination. However, 11% of the measured fragments could be distinguished from the reference paints via their elemental composition. This study demonstrates that differentiation based purely on visual characteristics and FTIR spectroscopy might not be sufficient for accurately determining sample contamination sources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clara Leistenschneider
- The Man-Society-Environment Program, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Basel, Vesalgasse 1, 4051 Basel, Switzerland
- Department of Microbial Ecology, Biologische Anstalt Helgoland, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Kurpromenade, 27498 Helgoland, Germany
| | - Patricia Burkhardt-Holm
- The Man-Society-Environment Program, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Basel, Vesalgasse 1, 4051 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Thomas Mani
- The Man-Society-Environment Program, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Basel, Vesalgasse 1, 4051 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Sebastian Primpke
- Department of Microbial Ecology, Biologische Anstalt Helgoland, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Kurpromenade, 27498 Helgoland, Germany
| | - Heidi Taubner
- Organic Geochemistry Group, MARUM─Center for Marine Environmental Sciences and Faculty of Geosciences, University of Bremen, Leobener Str. 8, 28359 Bremen, Germany
| | - Gunnar Gerdts
- Department of Microbial Ecology, Biologische Anstalt Helgoland, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Kurpromenade, 27498 Helgoland, Germany
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Yong MMH, Leistenschneider C, Miranda JA, Paler MK, Legaspi C, Germanov E, Araujo G, Burkhardt-Holm P, Erni-Cassola G. Microplastics in fecal samples of whale sharks ( Rhincodon typus) and from surface water in the Philippines. Microplast nanoplast 2021; 1:17. [PMID: 34939039 PMCID: PMC8475362 DOI: 10.1186/s43591-021-00017-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2021] [Accepted: 09/13/2021] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
Marine plastic abundance has increased over the past 60 years and microplastics (< 5 mm) constitute a primary component of such litter. Filter-feeding megafauna, such as the whale shark, might be particularly affected by microplastic pollution as their feeding mode requires filtration of up to thousands of cubic meters of water. In addition, the habitat range of whale sharks intersects with several recognized microplastic pollution hotspots, among which is the Coral Triangle. Direct evidence for microplastic ingestion in whale sharks however, has not yet been presented. Here we show that whale shark scat collected in the Philippines from 2012 to 2019 contained a mean of 2.8 microplastics g- 1. Contrary to our expectations, the microplastic concentration in the scat remained consistent from 2012 to 2019. Water samples from the study site in 2019 indicated that the local microplastic pollution (5.83 particles m- 3) was higher than in surface waters in other whale shark habitats, but well below other pollution hot-spots found in Southeast Asia and China (range: 100-4100 particles m- 3). With the predicted growth in plastic use, leading to increased plastic marine pollution, whale sharks are expected to become more exposed to this form of pollution. To what extent microplastic ingestion impacts the overall health status of this endangered species remains an open question. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s43591-021-00017-9.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mila Mi Hua Yong
- Man-Society-Environment (Programme MGU), Department of Environmental Sciences), University of Basel, Vesalgasse 1, CH-4051 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Clara Leistenschneider
- Man-Society-Environment (Programme MGU), Department of Environmental Sciences), University of Basel, Vesalgasse 1, CH-4051 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Joni Anne Miranda
- Large Marine Vertebrates Research Institute Philippines, 6308 Jagna, Bohol Philippines
| | - Maria Kristina Paler
- Department of Biology, University of San Carlos, Talamban, Cebu City, Philippines
| | - Christine Legaspi
- Large Marine Vertebrates Research Institute Philippines, 6308 Jagna, Bohol Philippines
| | - Elitza Germanov
- Marine Megafauna Foundation, 11260 Donner Pass Road, Unit 256, Truckee, CA 96161 USA
| | - Gonzalo Araujo
- Large Marine Vertebrates Research Institute Philippines, 6308 Jagna, Bohol Philippines
- Marine Research and Conservation Foundation, Somerset, TA4 3SJ UK
| | - Patricia Burkhardt-Holm
- Man-Society-Environment (Programme MGU), Department of Environmental Sciences), University of Basel, Vesalgasse 1, CH-4051 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Gabriel Erni-Cassola
- Man-Society-Environment (Programme MGU), Department of Environmental Sciences), University of Basel, Vesalgasse 1, CH-4051 Basel, Switzerland
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Paler MKO, Leistenschneider C, Migo V, Burkhardt-Holm P. Low microplastic abundance in Siganus spp. from the Tañon Strait, Central Philippines. Environ Pollut 2021; 284:117166. [PMID: 33895573 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2021.117166] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2020] [Revised: 03/30/2021] [Accepted: 04/13/2021] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
Microplastic (MP) occurrence is a major global issue, though data on MP occurrence in the Philippines is limited and the potential effects of MPs on biota are still poorly studied. MP occurrence in fishes remains a concern, especially in economically and ecologically important species such as Siganus spp. This study determined MP occurrence in the gastrointestinal tract of wild rabbit fishes from Tañon Strait, the largest marine protected area in the Philippines. Siganus canaliculatus (n = 65), S. spinus (n = 17), S. guttatus (n = 5), S. virgatus (n = 8) and S. punctatus (n = 1) were sampled from the north and south of the strait. All MPs isolated from the gut of the rabbit fishes except for fibers were chemically analyzed by ATR-FTIR spectroscopy; an established library was used to determine the polymeric identities. Five particles were confirmed as polyester, polyamide, polyethylene or phenoxy resin MPs. The average MP abundance was 0.05 items/individual (S. virgatus > S. guttatus > S. canaliculatus > S. spinus = S. punctatus), which is comparable to studies conducted in other locations using similar methods. Fibers were counted (1556 in total), but not chemically analyzed. The low MP abundance in the samples may be attributed to the capability of rabbit fishes to discriminate food preferences. However, the risks associated with MPs should not be underestimated, especially as all parts of the fishes-including the gut-are utilized as human foods in the Philippines and many other Asian countries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Kristina O Paler
- School of Environmental Science and Management, University of the Philippines Los Baños, College, Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines; Department of Biology, University of San Carlos, Talamban, Cebu City, Philippines
| | - Clara Leistenschneider
- Institute Man-Society-Environment, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Basel, Vesalgasse 1, CH-4051, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Veronica Migo
- Department of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering and Agro-Industrial Technology, University of the Philippines Los Baños, College, Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines
| | - Patricia Burkhardt-Holm
- Institute Man-Society-Environment, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Basel, Vesalgasse 1, CH-4051, Basel, Switzerland.
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