Microplastics in Arctic polar waters: the first reported values of particles in surface and sub-surface samples
Plastic, as a form of marine litter, is found in varying quantities and sizes around the globe from surface waters to deep-sea sediments. Identifying patterns of microplastic distribution will benefit an understanding of the scale of their potential effect on the environment and organisms. As sea ic...
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:4597356 2023-05-15T14:48:09+02:00 Microplastics in Arctic polar waters: the first reported values of particles in surface and sub-surface samples Lusher, Amy L. Tirelli, Valentina O’Connor, Ian Officer, Rick 2015-10-08 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4597356/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26446348 https://doi.org/10.1038/srep14947 en eng Nature Publishing Group http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4597356/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26446348 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep14947 Copyright © 2015, Macmillan Publishers Limited http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ CC-BY Article Text 2015 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1038/srep14947 2015-10-18T00:14:44Z Plastic, as a form of marine litter, is found in varying quantities and sizes around the globe from surface waters to deep-sea sediments. Identifying patterns of microplastic distribution will benefit an understanding of the scale of their potential effect on the environment and organisms. As sea ice extent is reducing in the Arctic, heightened shipping and fishing activity may increase marine pollution in the area. Microplastics may enter the region following ocean transport and local input, although baseline contamination measurements are still required. Here we present the first study of microplastics in Arctic waters, south and southwest of Svalbard, Norway. Microplastics were found in surface (top 16 cm) and sub-surface (6 m depth) samples using two independent techniques. Origins and pathways bringing microplastic to the Arctic remain unclear. Particle composition (95% fibres) suggests they may either result from the breakdown of larger items (transported over large distances by prevailing currents, or derived from local vessel activity), or input in sewage and wastewater from coastal areas. Concurrent observations of high zooplankton abundance suggest a high probability for marine biota to encounter microplastics and a potential for trophic interactions. Further research is required to understand the effects of microplastic-biota interaction within this productive environment. Text Arctic Sea ice Svalbard Zooplankton PubMed Central (PMC) Arctic Norway Svalbard Scientific Reports 5 1 |
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Article Lusher, Amy L. Tirelli, Valentina O’Connor, Ian Officer, Rick Microplastics in Arctic polar waters: the first reported values of particles in surface and sub-surface samples |
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Article |
description |
Plastic, as a form of marine litter, is found in varying quantities and sizes around the globe from surface waters to deep-sea sediments. Identifying patterns of microplastic distribution will benefit an understanding of the scale of their potential effect on the environment and organisms. As sea ice extent is reducing in the Arctic, heightened shipping and fishing activity may increase marine pollution in the area. Microplastics may enter the region following ocean transport and local input, although baseline contamination measurements are still required. Here we present the first study of microplastics in Arctic waters, south and southwest of Svalbard, Norway. Microplastics were found in surface (top 16 cm) and sub-surface (6 m depth) samples using two independent techniques. Origins and pathways bringing microplastic to the Arctic remain unclear. Particle composition (95% fibres) suggests they may either result from the breakdown of larger items (transported over large distances by prevailing currents, or derived from local vessel activity), or input in sewage and wastewater from coastal areas. Concurrent observations of high zooplankton abundance suggest a high probability for marine biota to encounter microplastics and a potential for trophic interactions. Further research is required to understand the effects of microplastic-biota interaction within this productive environment. |
format |
Text |
author |
Lusher, Amy L. Tirelli, Valentina O’Connor, Ian Officer, Rick |
author_facet |
Lusher, Amy L. Tirelli, Valentina O’Connor, Ian Officer, Rick |
author_sort |
Lusher, Amy L. |
title |
Microplastics in Arctic polar waters: the first reported values of particles in surface and sub-surface samples |
title_short |
Microplastics in Arctic polar waters: the first reported values of particles in surface and sub-surface samples |
title_full |
Microplastics in Arctic polar waters: the first reported values of particles in surface and sub-surface samples |
title_fullStr |
Microplastics in Arctic polar waters: the first reported values of particles in surface and sub-surface samples |
title_full_unstemmed |
Microplastics in Arctic polar waters: the first reported values of particles in surface and sub-surface samples |
title_sort |
microplastics in arctic polar waters: the first reported values of particles in surface and sub-surface samples |
publisher |
Nature Publishing Group |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4597356/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26446348 https://doi.org/10.1038/srep14947 |
geographic |
Arctic Norway Svalbard |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Norway Svalbard |
genre |
Arctic Sea ice Svalbard Zooplankton |
genre_facet |
Arctic Sea ice Svalbard Zooplankton |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4597356/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26446348 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep14947 |
op_rights |
Copyright © 2015, Macmillan Publishers Limited http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
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CC-BY |
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https://doi.org/10.1038/srep14947 |
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Scientific Reports |
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5 |
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1 |
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