Nanoplastics measurements in Northern and Southern polar ice

It has been established that various anthropogenic contaminants have already reached all the world's pristine locations, including the polar regions. While some of those contaminants, such as lead and soot, are decreasing in the environment, thanks to international regulations, other novel cont...

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Main Authors: Materić, Dušan, Kjær, Helle Astrid, Vallelonga, Paul, Tison, Jean Louis, Röckmann, Thomas, Holzinger, Rupert
Other Authors: Sub Atmospheric physics and chemistry, Marine and Atmospheric Research
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/419390
id ftunivutrecht:oai:dspace.library.uu.nl:1874/419390
record_format openpolar
spelling ftunivutrecht:oai:dspace.library.uu.nl:1874/419390 2023-11-12T04:06:12+01:00 Nanoplastics measurements in Northern and Southern polar ice Materić, Dušan Kjær, Helle Astrid Vallelonga, Paul Tison, Jean Louis Röckmann, Thomas Holzinger, Rupert Sub Atmospheric physics and chemistry Marine and Atmospheric Research 2022-05-15 application/pdf https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/419390 en eng 0013-9351 https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/419390 info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess Antarctic Greenland Microplastics Nanoplastics Polar regions PTR-MS Biochemistry Environmental Science(all) Article 2022 ftunivutrecht 2023-11-01T23:28:07Z It has been established that various anthropogenic contaminants have already reached all the world's pristine locations, including the polar regions. While some of those contaminants, such as lead and soot, are decreasing in the environment, thanks to international regulations, other novel contaminants emerge. Plastic pollution has been shown as a durable novel pollutant, and, since recently, smaller and smaller plastics particles have been identified in various environments (air, water and soil). Considerable research already exists measuring the plastics in the 5 mm to micrometre size range (microplastics). However, far less is known about the plastics debris that fragmented to the sub-micrometre size (nanoplastics). As these small particles are light, it is expected that they have already reached the most remote places on Earth, e.g. transported across the globe by air movement. In this work, we used a novel method based on Thermal Desorption – Proton Transfer Reaction – Mass Spectrometry (TD-PTR-MS) to detect and measure nanoplastics of different types in the water sampled from a Greenland firn core (T2015-A5) and a sea ice core from Antarctica. We identify polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polystyrene (PS), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and Tire wear nanoparticles in the 14 m deep Greenland firn core and PE, PP and PET in sea ice from Antarctica. Nanoplastics mass concentrations were on average 13.2 ng/mL for Greenland firn samples and 52.3 ng/mL for Antarctic sea ice. We further discuss the possible sources of nanoplastics that we found at these remote locations, which likely involve complex processes of plastic circulation (emission from both land and sea surface, atmospheric and marine circulation). Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Greenland ice core Sea ice Utrecht University Repository Antarctic Greenland
institution Open Polar
collection Utrecht University Repository
op_collection_id ftunivutrecht
language English
topic Antarctic
Greenland
Microplastics
Nanoplastics
Polar regions
PTR-MS
Biochemistry
Environmental Science(all)
spellingShingle Antarctic
Greenland
Microplastics
Nanoplastics
Polar regions
PTR-MS
Biochemistry
Environmental Science(all)
Materić, Dušan
Kjær, Helle Astrid
Vallelonga, Paul
Tison, Jean Louis
Röckmann, Thomas
Holzinger, Rupert
Nanoplastics measurements in Northern and Southern polar ice
topic_facet Antarctic
Greenland
Microplastics
Nanoplastics
Polar regions
PTR-MS
Biochemistry
Environmental Science(all)
description It has been established that various anthropogenic contaminants have already reached all the world's pristine locations, including the polar regions. While some of those contaminants, such as lead and soot, are decreasing in the environment, thanks to international regulations, other novel contaminants emerge. Plastic pollution has been shown as a durable novel pollutant, and, since recently, smaller and smaller plastics particles have been identified in various environments (air, water and soil). Considerable research already exists measuring the plastics in the 5 mm to micrometre size range (microplastics). However, far less is known about the plastics debris that fragmented to the sub-micrometre size (nanoplastics). As these small particles are light, it is expected that they have already reached the most remote places on Earth, e.g. transported across the globe by air movement. In this work, we used a novel method based on Thermal Desorption – Proton Transfer Reaction – Mass Spectrometry (TD-PTR-MS) to detect and measure nanoplastics of different types in the water sampled from a Greenland firn core (T2015-A5) and a sea ice core from Antarctica. We identify polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polystyrene (PS), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and Tire wear nanoparticles in the 14 m deep Greenland firn core and PE, PP and PET in sea ice from Antarctica. Nanoplastics mass concentrations were on average 13.2 ng/mL for Greenland firn samples and 52.3 ng/mL for Antarctic sea ice. We further discuss the possible sources of nanoplastics that we found at these remote locations, which likely involve complex processes of plastic circulation (emission from both land and sea surface, atmospheric and marine circulation).
author2 Sub Atmospheric physics and chemistry
Marine and Atmospheric Research
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Materić, Dušan
Kjær, Helle Astrid
Vallelonga, Paul
Tison, Jean Louis
Röckmann, Thomas
Holzinger, Rupert
author_facet Materić, Dušan
Kjær, Helle Astrid
Vallelonga, Paul
Tison, Jean Louis
Röckmann, Thomas
Holzinger, Rupert
author_sort Materić, Dušan
title Nanoplastics measurements in Northern and Southern polar ice
title_short Nanoplastics measurements in Northern and Southern polar ice
title_full Nanoplastics measurements in Northern and Southern polar ice
title_fullStr Nanoplastics measurements in Northern and Southern polar ice
title_full_unstemmed Nanoplastics measurements in Northern and Southern polar ice
title_sort nanoplastics measurements in northern and southern polar ice
publishDate 2022
url https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/419390
geographic Antarctic
Greenland
geographic_facet Antarctic
Greenland
genre Antarc*
Antarctic
Antarctica
Greenland
ice core
Sea ice
genre_facet Antarc*
Antarctic
Antarctica
Greenland
ice core
Sea ice
op_relation 0013-9351
https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/419390
op_rights info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess
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