Remote, but Not Isolated—Microplastics in the Sub-surface Waters of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago
As the remote Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA) becomes increasingly connected to the rest of the world, there is an impetus to monitor the possible impact of this connectivity. The potential for increases in localised sources of plastic pollution resulting from the increasing navigability of the re...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:01992e95b8e44f7f92a60ff56fd0c16c 2023-05-15T14:28:45+02:00 Remote, but Not Isolated—Microplastics in the Sub-surface Waters of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago Kirstie Jones-Williams Tamara S. Galloway Victoria L. Peck Clara Manno 2021-06-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.666482 https://doaj.org/article/01992e95b8e44f7f92a60ff56fd0c16c EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.666482/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-7745 2296-7745 doi:10.3389/fmars.2021.666482 https://doaj.org/article/01992e95b8e44f7f92a60ff56fd0c16c Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol 8 (2021) microplastic microfibre Arctic Canada sub-surface environmental monitoring Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.666482 2022-12-31T16:36:30Z As the remote Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA) becomes increasingly connected to the rest of the world, there is an impetus to monitor the possible impact of this connectivity. The potential for increases in localised sources of plastic pollution resulting from the increasing navigability of the remote north has yet to be explored. Here we investigate microplastic samples which were collected aboard the Canadian Coast Guard Ship (CCGS) Amundsen in the summer of 2018 using the underway pump and a filtration system with Fourier transform infrared analysis. We investigate the character, abundance, and distribution of microplastic particles and fibres in the sub-surface waters across the Canadian Arctic and add to the limited dataset on plastic pollution in this region. We find that there are low concentrations of microplastics ranging from 0 to 0.282 n L–1 (average 0.031 ± 0.017 n L–1), comprising 71% polyester and acrylics. We investigate the size distribution of retained particles and fibres on three different filter mesh sizes connected to the underway pump (300, 100, and 50 μm) and find that a 300 μm mesh and a 100 μm mesh retain only 6 and 56%, respectively, of the total particles and fibres. We explore the role of shipping as a potential source of textile fibres and we suggest that future monitoring of plastics in the Canadian Arctic should use the current shipping fleet to monitor its own plastic footprint, utilising the underway pump and mesh sizes < 100 μm. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Archipelago Arctic Canadian Arctic Archipelago Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Canada Canadian Arctic Archipelago Frontiers in Marine Science 8 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
microplastic microfibre Arctic Canada sub-surface environmental monitoring Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 |
spellingShingle |
microplastic microfibre Arctic Canada sub-surface environmental monitoring Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 Kirstie Jones-Williams Tamara S. Galloway Victoria L. Peck Clara Manno Remote, but Not Isolated—Microplastics in the Sub-surface Waters of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago |
topic_facet |
microplastic microfibre Arctic Canada sub-surface environmental monitoring Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 |
description |
As the remote Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA) becomes increasingly connected to the rest of the world, there is an impetus to monitor the possible impact of this connectivity. The potential for increases in localised sources of plastic pollution resulting from the increasing navigability of the remote north has yet to be explored. Here we investigate microplastic samples which were collected aboard the Canadian Coast Guard Ship (CCGS) Amundsen in the summer of 2018 using the underway pump and a filtration system with Fourier transform infrared analysis. We investigate the character, abundance, and distribution of microplastic particles and fibres in the sub-surface waters across the Canadian Arctic and add to the limited dataset on plastic pollution in this region. We find that there are low concentrations of microplastics ranging from 0 to 0.282 n L–1 (average 0.031 ± 0.017 n L–1), comprising 71% polyester and acrylics. We investigate the size distribution of retained particles and fibres on three different filter mesh sizes connected to the underway pump (300, 100, and 50 μm) and find that a 300 μm mesh and a 100 μm mesh retain only 6 and 56%, respectively, of the total particles and fibres. We explore the role of shipping as a potential source of textile fibres and we suggest that future monitoring of plastics in the Canadian Arctic should use the current shipping fleet to monitor its own plastic footprint, utilising the underway pump and mesh sizes < 100 μm. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Kirstie Jones-Williams Tamara S. Galloway Victoria L. Peck Clara Manno |
author_facet |
Kirstie Jones-Williams Tamara S. Galloway Victoria L. Peck Clara Manno |
author_sort |
Kirstie Jones-Williams |
title |
Remote, but Not Isolated—Microplastics in the Sub-surface Waters of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago |
title_short |
Remote, but Not Isolated—Microplastics in the Sub-surface Waters of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago |
title_full |
Remote, but Not Isolated—Microplastics in the Sub-surface Waters of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago |
title_fullStr |
Remote, but Not Isolated—Microplastics in the Sub-surface Waters of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago |
title_full_unstemmed |
Remote, but Not Isolated—Microplastics in the Sub-surface Waters of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago |
title_sort |
remote, but not isolated—microplastics in the sub-surface waters of the canadian arctic archipelago |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.666482 https://doaj.org/article/01992e95b8e44f7f92a60ff56fd0c16c |
geographic |
Arctic Canada Canadian Arctic Archipelago |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Canada Canadian Arctic Archipelago |
genre |
Arctic Archipelago Arctic Canadian Arctic Archipelago |
genre_facet |
Arctic Archipelago Arctic Canadian Arctic Archipelago |
op_source |
Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol 8 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.666482/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-7745 2296-7745 doi:10.3389/fmars.2021.666482 https://doaj.org/article/01992e95b8e44f7f92a60ff56fd0c16c |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.666482 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Marine Science |
container_volume |
8 |
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1766302916990205952 |