Microplastics in marine sediments near Rothera Research Station, Antarctica

• Published in: Marine Pollution Bulletin
• Main Authors: Reed, S, Clark, M, Thompson, R, Hughes, KA
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2018
• Subjects: Microplastics; Sediment; Antarctic; Peninsula; Pollution Protocol on Environmental Protection to the; Antarctic Treaty; Human impact; Antarctic Peninsula; Rothera; Rothera Research Station; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10026.1/11865; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.05.068

publisher: Elsevier articletitle: Microplastics in marine sediments near Rothera Research Station, Antarctica journaltitle: Marine Pollution Bulletin articlelink: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.05.068 content_type: article copyright: © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Antarctica and surrounding waters are often considered pristine, but may be subject to local pollution from tourism, fishing and governmental research programme activities. In particular, the quantification of microplastic pollution within the Antarctic Treaty area (south of latitude 60°S) has received little attention. We examined microplastic particle concentrations in sediment samples from 20 locations up to 7 km from Rothera Research Station. The highest concentrations of microplastic (<5 particles 10 ml-1) were recorded in sediment collected near the station sewage treatment plant outfall. The concentrations were similar to levels recorded in shallow and deep sea marine sediments outside Antarctica. The detected microplastics had characteristics similar to those commonly produced by clothes washing. We recommend further research on microplastics around Antarctic stations to inform policy discussions and the development of appropriate management responses.