Plastic and anthropogenic microfiber pollution on exposed sandy beaches in Nova Scotia, Canada
Aim: To investigate the baseline abundance of microplastics on two sandy beaches along an exposed coastline in an understudied region of the Northwest Atlantic. Methods: Sandy sediments were sampled from two beaches along the eastern shore of Nova Scotia, Canada from High, Mid, and Low intertidal po...
Published in: | Water Emerging Contaminants & Nanoplastics |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | unknown |
Published: |
OAE Publishing Inc.
2024
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.20517/wecn.2023.66 https://www.oaepublish.com/articles/wecn.2023.66 |
id |
croaepubl:10.20517/wecn.2023.66 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
croaepubl:10.20517/wecn.2023.66 2024-06-02T08:12:16+00:00 Plastic and anthropogenic microfiber pollution on exposed sandy beaches in Nova Scotia, Canada Kelly, Noreen E. Trela, Olga Gavel, Heidi Vander Kuylen, Alyssa 2024 http://dx.doi.org/10.20517/wecn.2023.66 https://www.oaepublish.com/articles/wecn.2023.66 unknown OAE Publishing Inc. Water Emerging Contaminants & Nanoplastics volume 3, issue 1 ISSN 2831-2597 journal-article 2024 croaepubl https://doi.org/10.20517/wecn.2023.66 2024-05-07T14:08:17Z Aim: To investigate the baseline abundance of microplastics on two sandy beaches along an exposed coastline in an understudied region of the Northwest Atlantic. Methods: Sandy sediments were sampled from two beaches along the eastern shore of Nova Scotia, Canada from High, Mid, and Low intertidal positions. Density floatation using a sodium iodide (NaI) solution was used to separate particles from 100 g of sediments in each sample. Particles were characterized by size, shape, and colour, and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was conducted for polymer identification. Results: At both beaches, the majority of particles found were small (< 1.4 mm), transparent microfibers. Microplastics were polymers of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), nylon, or alkyds (paints). The mean concentrations at both beaches were similar, at 5.08 ± 3.20 and 5.58 ± 4.52 microplastics per 100 g of sediment. Non-plastic (i.e., natural and semi-synthetic cellulosic) microfibers were up to 19 times more abundant than microplastics, with mean concentrations of 75.9 ± 60.1 and 97.7 ± 87.9 per 100 g sediment. Mean particle counts did not differ significantly across tidal ranges due to their high variability over small spatial scales (10 s of m). Conclusion: Using new investigative tools yielded estimates of microplastic pollution 1-2 orders of magnitude lower than earlier research conducted at these sites, and was generally lower than values reported from other beaches globally. Sources of microfibers were potentially from high recreational use at these sites. Future monitoring could target these sites for time series analysis of microplastic change on exposed sandy beaches. Article in Journal/Newspaper Northwest Atlantic OAE Publishing Inc. Canada Water Emerging Contaminants & Nanoplastics 3 1 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
OAE Publishing Inc. |
op_collection_id |
croaepubl |
language |
unknown |
description |
Aim: To investigate the baseline abundance of microplastics on two sandy beaches along an exposed coastline in an understudied region of the Northwest Atlantic. Methods: Sandy sediments were sampled from two beaches along the eastern shore of Nova Scotia, Canada from High, Mid, and Low intertidal positions. Density floatation using a sodium iodide (NaI) solution was used to separate particles from 100 g of sediments in each sample. Particles were characterized by size, shape, and colour, and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was conducted for polymer identification. Results: At both beaches, the majority of particles found were small (< 1.4 mm), transparent microfibers. Microplastics were polymers of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), nylon, or alkyds (paints). The mean concentrations at both beaches were similar, at 5.08 ± 3.20 and 5.58 ± 4.52 microplastics per 100 g of sediment. Non-plastic (i.e., natural and semi-synthetic cellulosic) microfibers were up to 19 times more abundant than microplastics, with mean concentrations of 75.9 ± 60.1 and 97.7 ± 87.9 per 100 g sediment. Mean particle counts did not differ significantly across tidal ranges due to their high variability over small spatial scales (10 s of m). Conclusion: Using new investigative tools yielded estimates of microplastic pollution 1-2 orders of magnitude lower than earlier research conducted at these sites, and was generally lower than values reported from other beaches globally. Sources of microfibers were potentially from high recreational use at these sites. Future monitoring could target these sites for time series analysis of microplastic change on exposed sandy beaches. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Kelly, Noreen E. Trela, Olga Gavel, Heidi Vander Kuylen, Alyssa |
spellingShingle |
Kelly, Noreen E. Trela, Olga Gavel, Heidi Vander Kuylen, Alyssa Plastic and anthropogenic microfiber pollution on exposed sandy beaches in Nova Scotia, Canada |
author_facet |
Kelly, Noreen E. Trela, Olga Gavel, Heidi Vander Kuylen, Alyssa |
author_sort |
Kelly, Noreen E. |
title |
Plastic and anthropogenic microfiber pollution on exposed sandy beaches in Nova Scotia, Canada |
title_short |
Plastic and anthropogenic microfiber pollution on exposed sandy beaches in Nova Scotia, Canada |
title_full |
Plastic and anthropogenic microfiber pollution on exposed sandy beaches in Nova Scotia, Canada |
title_fullStr |
Plastic and anthropogenic microfiber pollution on exposed sandy beaches in Nova Scotia, Canada |
title_full_unstemmed |
Plastic and anthropogenic microfiber pollution on exposed sandy beaches in Nova Scotia, Canada |
title_sort |
plastic and anthropogenic microfiber pollution on exposed sandy beaches in nova scotia, canada |
publisher |
OAE Publishing Inc. |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.20517/wecn.2023.66 https://www.oaepublish.com/articles/wecn.2023.66 |
geographic |
Canada |
geographic_facet |
Canada |
genre |
Northwest Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Northwest Atlantic |
op_source |
Water Emerging Contaminants & Nanoplastics volume 3, issue 1 ISSN 2831-2597 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.20517/wecn.2023.66 |
container_title |
Water Emerging Contaminants & Nanoplastics |
container_volume |
3 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1800758649714376704 |