Microplastics in the Weddell Sea (Antarctica): A Forensic Approach for Discrimination between Environmental and Vessel-Induced Microplastics
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...
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American Chemical Society
2021
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Online Access: | https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/55012/ https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c05207 https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.f9384456-e5ed-4b20-9ba4-4dba5fd7c61e |
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ftawi:oai:epic.awi.de:55012 2024-09-15T17:45:07+00:00 Microplastics in the Weddell Sea (Antarctica): A Forensic Approach for Discrimination between Environmental and Vessel-Induced Microplastics Leistenschneider, Clara Burkhardt-Holm, Patricia Mani, Thomas Primpke, Sebastian Taubner, Heidi Gerdts, Gunnar 2021 https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/55012/ https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c05207 https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.f9384456-e5ed-4b20-9ba4-4dba5fd7c61e unknown American Chemical Society Leistenschneider, C. orcid:0000-0002-2350-5939 , Burkhardt-Holm, P. orcid:0000-0001-5396-6405 , Mani, T. orcid:0000-0002-5746-9972 , Primpke, S. orcid:0000-0001-7633-8524 , Taubner, H. orcid:0000-0003-0191-8158 and Gerdts, G. orcid:0000-0003-0872-3927 (2021) Microplastics in the Weddell Sea (Antarctica): A Forensic Approach for Discrimination between Environmental and Vessel-Induced Microplastics , Environmental Science & Technology . doi:10.1021/acs.est.1c05207 <https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c05207> , hdl:10013/epic.f9384456-e5ed-4b20-9ba4-4dba5fd7c61e EPIC3Environmental Science & Technology, American Chemical Society, ISSN: 0013-936X Article peerRev 2021 ftawi https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c05207 2024-06-24T04:27:29Z 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. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Southern Ocean Weddell Sea Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar- and Marine Research (AWI): ePIC (electronic Publication Information Center) Environmental Science & Technology 55 23 15900 15911 |
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Open Polar |
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Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar- and Marine Research (AWI): ePIC (electronic Publication Information Center) |
op_collection_id |
ftawi |
language |
unknown |
description |
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. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Leistenschneider, Clara Burkhardt-Holm, Patricia Mani, Thomas Primpke, Sebastian Taubner, Heidi Gerdts, Gunnar |
spellingShingle |
Leistenschneider, Clara Burkhardt-Holm, Patricia Mani, Thomas Primpke, Sebastian Taubner, Heidi Gerdts, Gunnar Microplastics in the Weddell Sea (Antarctica): A Forensic Approach for Discrimination between Environmental and Vessel-Induced Microplastics |
author_facet |
Leistenschneider, Clara Burkhardt-Holm, Patricia Mani, Thomas Primpke, Sebastian Taubner, Heidi Gerdts, Gunnar |
author_sort |
Leistenschneider, Clara |
title |
Microplastics in the Weddell Sea (Antarctica): A Forensic Approach for Discrimination between Environmental and Vessel-Induced Microplastics |
title_short |
Microplastics in the Weddell Sea (Antarctica): A Forensic Approach for Discrimination between Environmental and Vessel-Induced Microplastics |
title_full |
Microplastics in the Weddell Sea (Antarctica): A Forensic Approach for Discrimination between Environmental and Vessel-Induced Microplastics |
title_fullStr |
Microplastics in the Weddell Sea (Antarctica): A Forensic Approach for Discrimination between Environmental and Vessel-Induced Microplastics |
title_full_unstemmed |
Microplastics in the Weddell Sea (Antarctica): A Forensic Approach for Discrimination between Environmental and Vessel-Induced Microplastics |
title_sort |
microplastics in the weddell sea (antarctica): a forensic approach for discrimination between environmental and vessel-induced microplastics |
publisher |
American Chemical Society |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/55012/ https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c05207 https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.f9384456-e5ed-4b20-9ba4-4dba5fd7c61e |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Southern Ocean Weddell Sea |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Southern Ocean Weddell Sea |
op_source |
EPIC3Environmental Science & Technology, American Chemical Society, ISSN: 0013-936X |
op_relation |
Leistenschneider, C. orcid:0000-0002-2350-5939 , Burkhardt-Holm, P. orcid:0000-0001-5396-6405 , Mani, T. orcid:0000-0002-5746-9972 , Primpke, S. orcid:0000-0001-7633-8524 , Taubner, H. orcid:0000-0003-0191-8158 and Gerdts, G. orcid:0000-0003-0872-3927 (2021) Microplastics in the Weddell Sea (Antarctica): A Forensic Approach for Discrimination between Environmental and Vessel-Induced Microplastics , Environmental Science & Technology . doi:10.1021/acs.est.1c05207 <https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c05207> , hdl:10013/epic.f9384456-e5ed-4b20-9ba4-4dba5fd7c61e |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c05207 |
container_title |
Environmental Science & Technology |
container_volume |
55 |
container_issue |
23 |
container_start_page |
15900 |
op_container_end_page |
15911 |
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1810492831513444352 |