A first assessment of microplastics and other anthropogenic particles in Hudson Bay and the surrounding eastern Canadian Arctic waters of Nunavut

Microplastics are a globally ubiquitous contaminant, invading the most remote regions, including the Arctic. To date, our understanding of the distribution and sources of microplastics in the Arctic is limited but growing. This study aims to advance our understanding of microplastics in the Arctic....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:FACETS
Main Authors: Aimee Huntington, Patricia L. Corcoran, Liisa Jantunen, Clara Thaysen, Sarah Bernstein, Gary A. Stern, Chelsea M. Rochman
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Canadian Science Publishing 2020
Subjects:
microplastic
arctic
canada
zooplankton
water
sediment
plastic
Education
L
Science
Q
Arctic
Nunavut
Hudson Bay
Baffin Bay
Canada
Hudson
Baffin
Zooplankton
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1139/facets-2019-0042
https://doaj.org/article/5f2caf9396ac4b7d826d749c3d41f979
Description
Summary:Microplastics are a globally ubiquitous contaminant, invading the most remote regions, including the Arctic. To date, our understanding of the distribution and sources of microplastics in the Arctic is limited but growing. This study aims to advance our understanding of microplastics in the Arctic. Surface water, zooplankton, sediment, and snow samples were collected from Hudson Bay to north Baffin Bay onboard the CCGS Amundsen from July to August 2017. Samples were examined for microplastics, which were chemically identified via Raman spectroscopy for surface water and zooplankton and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy for sediment. We found that 90% of surface water and zooplankton samples, and 85% of sediment samples, contained microplastics or other anthropogenic particles. Mean anthropogenic particle concentrations, which includes microplastics, were 0.22 ± 0.23 (per litre) for surface water, 3.51 ± 4.00 (per gram) for zooplankton, and 1.94 ± 4.12 (per gram) for sediment. These concentrations were not related to the human populations upstream, suggesting that microplastic contamination in the Arctic is from long-range transport. Overall, this study highlights the presence of microplastics across the eastern Canadian Arctic, in multiple media, and offers evidence of long-range transport via ocean and atmospheric currents. Further research is needed to better understand sources, distribution, and effects to Arctic ecosystems.

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