Vertical transfer of microplastics in nearshore water by cultured filter-feeding oysters.

Microplastics (MPs) are widely distributed in the sea, but the vertical transfer of MPs by marine organisms in coastal area is still poorly understood. In this study, we used laser direct infrared (LDIR) spectroscopy to determine the number and characteristics of MPs deposited by cultured oyster Cra...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Hazardous Materials
Main Authors: Li, Jiasen, Liu, Jialin, Wang, Xiaodan, Zhang, Tianyu, Wang, Dongyu, Shan, Encui, Teng, Jia, Zhao, Jianmin, Wang, Qing
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Elsevier Science 2024
Subjects:
Aquaculture
Infrared chemical imaging system
Plastic pollution
Sediments
Vertical flux
Crassostrea gigas
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.134769
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38870849
Description
Summary:Microplastics (MPs) are widely distributed in the sea, but the vertical transfer of MPs by marine organisms in coastal area is still poorly understood. In this study, we used laser direct infrared (LDIR) spectroscopy to determine the number and characteristics of MPs deposited by cultured oyster Crassostrea gigas and further compared the differences between MPs of natural deposit and biodeposit in field environments. The amounts of MPs found in the biodeposit of cultured oysters were 3.54 times greater than that in the natural deposition. The polymer types of biodeposit MPs also differed from those of natural deposition. It was estimated that a single oyster can deposit 15.88 MPs per day, which is a figure much higher than the initial results, and hotspots of MPs deposition may be formed within the oyster aquaculture area. We used generalized linear mixed model (GLMM) to further infer the sources of MPs in sediments and found that distance to shore, cultured zone and urban center were important predictors of MPs abundance in sediments of aquaculture area. The above results suggest that cultured bivalves have an important capacity for MPs biodeposition and will further change the vertical distribution pattern of MPs in coastal environments.

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