Assessing plastic size distribution and quantity on a remote island in the South Pacific

Plastics are an environmental threat; however, their fate once in the pelagic environment is poorly known. We compare results from assessments of floating plastics in the South Pacific Ocean with accumulated beach plastics from Henderson Island. We also compare accumulated plastic mass on Henderson...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine Pollution Bulletin
Main Authors: Nichols, EC, Lavers, JL, Archer-Rand, S, Bond, AL
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd 2021
Subjects:
marine debris
plastic pollution
remote island
microplastic
nanoplastic
beach survey
Henderson Island
Pacific
Online Access:https://eprints.utas.edu.au/37531/
id ftunivtasmania:oai:eprints.utas.edu.au:37531
record_format openpolar
spelling ftunivtasmania:oai:eprints.utas.edu.au:37531 2023-05-15T16:34:35+02:00 Assessing plastic size distribution and quantity on a remote island in the South Pacific Nichols, EC Lavers, JL Archer-Rand, S Bond, AL 2021 https://eprints.utas.edu.au/37531/ unknown Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd Nichols, EC, Lavers, JL orcid:0000-0001-7596-6588 , Archer-Rand, S and Bond, AL 2021 , 'Assessing plastic size distribution and quantity on a remote island in the South Pacific' , Marine Pollution Bulletin, vol. 167 , pp. 1-9 , doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112366 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112366>. marine debris plastic pollution remote island microplastic nanoplastic beach survey Article PeerReviewed 2021 ftunivtasmania https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112366 2021-09-27T22:16:37Z Plastics are an environmental threat; however, their fate once in the pelagic environment is poorly known. We compare results from assessments of floating plastics in the South Pacific Ocean with accumulated beach plastics from Henderson Island. We also compare accumulated plastic mass on Henderson during 2015 and 2019 and investigate the presence of nanoplastics. There were differences between the size classes of beach and pelagic plastics, and an increase in microplastics (0.33–5 mm) on the beach between 2015 and 2019. Micro- and nanoplastics were found at all sites (mean ± SE: 1960 ± 356 pieces/kg dw). Across the whole beach this translates to >4 billion plastic particles in the upper 5 cm. This is concerning, particularly given Henderson is uninhabited and distant from urban centres (~2350 km from Pape'ete, French Polynesia). The vast number of small particles on Henderson may make nearshore filter feeders susceptible to ingestion and subsequent detrimental impacts. Article in Journal/Newspaper Henderson Island University of Tasmania: UTas ePrints Henderson Island ENVELOPE(97.200,97.200,-66.367,-66.367) Pacific Marine Pollution Bulletin 167 112366
institution Open Polar
collection University of Tasmania: UTas ePrints
op_collection_id ftunivtasmania
language unknown
topic marine debris
plastic pollution
remote island
microplastic
nanoplastic
beach survey
spellingShingle marine debris
plastic pollution
remote island
microplastic
nanoplastic
beach survey
Nichols, EC
Lavers, JL
Archer-Rand, S
Bond, AL
Assessing plastic size distribution and quantity on a remote island in the South Pacific
topic_facet marine debris
plastic pollution
remote island
microplastic
nanoplastic
beach survey
description Plastics are an environmental threat; however, their fate once in the pelagic environment is poorly known. We compare results from assessments of floating plastics in the South Pacific Ocean with accumulated beach plastics from Henderson Island. We also compare accumulated plastic mass on Henderson during 2015 and 2019 and investigate the presence of nanoplastics. There were differences between the size classes of beach and pelagic plastics, and an increase in microplastics (0.33–5 mm) on the beach between 2015 and 2019. Micro- and nanoplastics were found at all sites (mean ± SE: 1960 ± 356 pieces/kg dw). Across the whole beach this translates to >4 billion plastic particles in the upper 5 cm. This is concerning, particularly given Henderson is uninhabited and distant from urban centres (~2350 km from Pape'ete, French Polynesia). The vast number of small particles on Henderson may make nearshore filter feeders susceptible to ingestion and subsequent detrimental impacts.
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Nichols, EC
Lavers, JL
Archer-Rand, S
Bond, AL
author_facet Nichols, EC
Lavers, JL
Archer-Rand, S
Bond, AL
author_sort Nichols, EC
title Assessing plastic size distribution and quantity on a remote island in the South Pacific
title_short Assessing plastic size distribution and quantity on a remote island in the South Pacific
title_full Assessing plastic size distribution and quantity on a remote island in the South Pacific
title_fullStr Assessing plastic size distribution and quantity on a remote island in the South Pacific
title_full_unstemmed Assessing plastic size distribution and quantity on a remote island in the South Pacific
title_sort assessing plastic size distribution and quantity on a remote island in the south pacific
publisher Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd
publishDate 2021
url https://eprints.utas.edu.au/37531/
long_lat ENVELOPE(97.200,97.200,-66.367,-66.367)
geographic Henderson Island
Pacific
geographic_facet Henderson Island
Pacific
genre Henderson Island
genre_facet Henderson Island
op_relation Nichols, EC, Lavers, JL orcid:0000-0001-7596-6588 , Archer-Rand, S and Bond, AL 2021 , 'Assessing plastic size distribution and quantity on a remote island in the South Pacific' , Marine Pollution Bulletin, vol. 167 , pp. 1-9 , doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112366 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112366>.
op_doi https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112366
container_title Marine Pollution Bulletin
container_volume 167
container_start_page 112366
_version_ 1766024520317009920

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