High Levels of Microplastics in the Arctic Sea Ice Alga Melosira arctica, a Vector to Ice-Associated and Benthic Food Webs
[Image: see text] Plastic pollution has become ubiquitous with very high quantities detected even in ecosystems as remote as Arctic sea ice and deep-sea sediments. Ice algae growing underneath sea ice are released upon melting and can form fast-sinking aggregates. In this pilot study, we sampled and...
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American Chemical Society
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Online Access: | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10157888/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37083047 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c08010 |
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:10157888 2023-06-11T04:09:11+02:00 High Levels of Microplastics in the Arctic Sea Ice Alga Melosira arctica, a Vector to Ice-Associated and Benthic Food Webs Bergmann, Melanie Allen, Steve Krumpen, Thomas Allen, Deonie 2023-04-21 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10157888/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37083047 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c08010 en eng American Chemical Society http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10157888/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37083047 http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c08010 © 2023 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Permits the broadest form of re-use including for commercial purposes, provided that author attribution and integrity are maintained (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Environ Sci Technol Text 2023 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c08010 2023-05-07T01:29:41Z [Image: see text] Plastic pollution has become ubiquitous with very high quantities detected even in ecosystems as remote as Arctic sea ice and deep-sea sediments. Ice algae growing underneath sea ice are released upon melting and can form fast-sinking aggregates. In this pilot study, we sampled and analyzed the ice algaeMelosira arcticaand ambient sea water from three locations in the Fram Strait to assess their microplastic content and potential as a temporary sink and pathway to the deep seafloor. Analysis by μ-Raman and fluorescence microscopy detected microplastics (≥2.2 μm) in all samples at concentrations ranging from 1.3 to 5.7 × 10(4) microplastics (MP) m(–3) in ice algae and from 1.4 to 4.5 × 10(3) MP m(–3) in sea water, indicating magnitude higher concentrations in algae. On average, 94% of the total microplastic particles were identified as 10 μm or smaller in size and comprised 16 polymer types without a clear dominance. The high concentrations of microplastics found in our pilot study suggest thatM. arctica could trap microplastics from melting ice and ambient sea water. The algae appear to be a temporary sink and could act as a key vector to food webs near the sea surface and on the deep seafloor, to which its fast-sinking aggregates could facilitate an important mechanism of transport. Text Arctic Fram Strait ice algae Sea ice PubMed Central (PMC) Arctic Environmental Science & Technology 57 17 6799 6807 |
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English |
description |
[Image: see text] Plastic pollution has become ubiquitous with very high quantities detected even in ecosystems as remote as Arctic sea ice and deep-sea sediments. Ice algae growing underneath sea ice are released upon melting and can form fast-sinking aggregates. In this pilot study, we sampled and analyzed the ice algaeMelosira arcticaand ambient sea water from three locations in the Fram Strait to assess their microplastic content and potential as a temporary sink and pathway to the deep seafloor. Analysis by μ-Raman and fluorescence microscopy detected microplastics (≥2.2 μm) in all samples at concentrations ranging from 1.3 to 5.7 × 10(4) microplastics (MP) m(–3) in ice algae and from 1.4 to 4.5 × 10(3) MP m(–3) in sea water, indicating magnitude higher concentrations in algae. On average, 94% of the total microplastic particles were identified as 10 μm or smaller in size and comprised 16 polymer types without a clear dominance. The high concentrations of microplastics found in our pilot study suggest thatM. arctica could trap microplastics from melting ice and ambient sea water. The algae appear to be a temporary sink and could act as a key vector to food webs near the sea surface and on the deep seafloor, to which its fast-sinking aggregates could facilitate an important mechanism of transport. |
format |
Text |
author |
Bergmann, Melanie Allen, Steve Krumpen, Thomas Allen, Deonie |
spellingShingle |
Bergmann, Melanie Allen, Steve Krumpen, Thomas Allen, Deonie High Levels of Microplastics in the Arctic Sea Ice Alga Melosira arctica, a Vector to Ice-Associated and Benthic Food Webs |
author_facet |
Bergmann, Melanie Allen, Steve Krumpen, Thomas Allen, Deonie |
author_sort |
Bergmann, Melanie |
title |
High Levels of Microplastics in the Arctic Sea Ice Alga Melosira arctica, a Vector to Ice-Associated and Benthic Food Webs |
title_short |
High Levels of Microplastics in the Arctic Sea Ice Alga Melosira arctica, a Vector to Ice-Associated and Benthic Food Webs |
title_full |
High Levels of Microplastics in the Arctic Sea Ice Alga Melosira arctica, a Vector to Ice-Associated and Benthic Food Webs |
title_fullStr |
High Levels of Microplastics in the Arctic Sea Ice Alga Melosira arctica, a Vector to Ice-Associated and Benthic Food Webs |
title_full_unstemmed |
High Levels of Microplastics in the Arctic Sea Ice Alga Melosira arctica, a Vector to Ice-Associated and Benthic Food Webs |
title_sort |
high levels of microplastics in the arctic sea ice alga melosira arctica, a vector to ice-associated and benthic food webs |
publisher |
American Chemical Society |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10157888/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37083047 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c08010 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Fram Strait ice algae Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Arctic Fram Strait ice algae Sea ice |
op_source |
Environ Sci Technol |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10157888/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37083047 http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c08010 |
op_rights |
© 2023 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Permits the broadest form of re-use including for commercial purposes, provided that author attribution and integrity are maintained (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c08010 |
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Environmental Science & Technology |
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57 |
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17 |
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6799 |
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6807 |
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