Quantification of plankton-sized microplastics in a productive coastal Arctic marine ecosystem
Microplastics (MPs) are polluting the Arctic, but our understanding of their abundance, distribution, and sources is limited. This study quantified MPs down to 10μm in marine waters of the most populated region in Greenland. A new plastic-free pump-filter system was used to collect MPs from surface...
Published in: | Environmental Pollution |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Zenodo
2020
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2020.115248 |
id |
ftzenodo:oai:zenodo.org:4984493 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftzenodo:oai:zenodo.org:4984493 2024-09-15T18:09:58+00:00 Quantification of plankton-sized microplastics in a productive coastal Arctic marine ecosystem Sinja Rist Alvise Vianello Mie Hylstofte Sichlau Winding Torkel Gissel Nielsen Rodrigo Almeda Rocío Rodríguez Torres Jes Vollertsen 2020-07-14 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2020.115248 eng eng Zenodo https://zenodo.org/communities/eu https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2020.115248 oai:zenodo.org:4984493 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode Environmental Pollution, 266, (2020-07-14) GreenlandPlastic pollutionPump-filter systemBongo netμFTIR-imaging info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2020 ftzenodo https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2020.115248 2024-07-27T08:05:53Z Microplastics (MPs) are polluting the Arctic, but our understanding of their abundance, distribution, and sources is limited. This study quantified MPs down to 10μm in marine waters of the most populated region in Greenland. A new plastic-free pump-filter system was used to collect MPs from surface waters in the fjord Nuup Kangerlua close to Nuuk. Additionally, we took samples by horizontal tows with a bongo net (300μm mesh-size). The median concentrations were 142MPsm −3 and 0.12MPsm −3 in the pump and bongo samples, respectively. The most abundant polymer was polyester across stations and sampling types. Fibers were the dominant shape in the bongo samples, while non-fibrous particles dominated in the pump samples. MP abundance was lower in the fjord and increased close to Nuuk and towards the open ocean, indicating that Nuuk is an important point source for MPs. In both samples, concentrations of MPs increased with decreasing size, illustrating the importance of quantifying the smallest fraction of MPs. Thus, the use of methods allowing for a quantification of the smallest MPs is vital to reduce the underestimation of MP concentrations in the environment. The smallest size fraction is also most available to plankton-feeding marine invertebrates and an important entry point for MPs into marine food webs. At the found concentrations, immediate adverse effects on the pelagic food webs are unlikely. However, growing anthropogenic activities could increase the risk of MPs to affect the sensitive Arctic ecosystem. Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland Nuuk Zenodo Environmental Pollution 266 115248 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Zenodo |
op_collection_id |
ftzenodo |
language |
English |
topic |
GreenlandPlastic pollutionPump-filter systemBongo netμFTIR-imaging |
spellingShingle |
GreenlandPlastic pollutionPump-filter systemBongo netμFTIR-imaging Sinja Rist Alvise Vianello Mie Hylstofte Sichlau Winding Torkel Gissel Nielsen Rodrigo Almeda Rocío Rodríguez Torres Jes Vollertsen Quantification of plankton-sized microplastics in a productive coastal Arctic marine ecosystem |
topic_facet |
GreenlandPlastic pollutionPump-filter systemBongo netμFTIR-imaging |
description |
Microplastics (MPs) are polluting the Arctic, but our understanding of their abundance, distribution, and sources is limited. This study quantified MPs down to 10μm in marine waters of the most populated region in Greenland. A new plastic-free pump-filter system was used to collect MPs from surface waters in the fjord Nuup Kangerlua close to Nuuk. Additionally, we took samples by horizontal tows with a bongo net (300μm mesh-size). The median concentrations were 142MPsm −3 and 0.12MPsm −3 in the pump and bongo samples, respectively. The most abundant polymer was polyester across stations and sampling types. Fibers were the dominant shape in the bongo samples, while non-fibrous particles dominated in the pump samples. MP abundance was lower in the fjord and increased close to Nuuk and towards the open ocean, indicating that Nuuk is an important point source for MPs. In both samples, concentrations of MPs increased with decreasing size, illustrating the importance of quantifying the smallest fraction of MPs. Thus, the use of methods allowing for a quantification of the smallest MPs is vital to reduce the underestimation of MP concentrations in the environment. The smallest size fraction is also most available to plankton-feeding marine invertebrates and an important entry point for MPs into marine food webs. At the found concentrations, immediate adverse effects on the pelagic food webs are unlikely. However, growing anthropogenic activities could increase the risk of MPs to affect the sensitive Arctic ecosystem. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Sinja Rist Alvise Vianello Mie Hylstofte Sichlau Winding Torkel Gissel Nielsen Rodrigo Almeda Rocío Rodríguez Torres Jes Vollertsen |
author_facet |
Sinja Rist Alvise Vianello Mie Hylstofte Sichlau Winding Torkel Gissel Nielsen Rodrigo Almeda Rocío Rodríguez Torres Jes Vollertsen |
author_sort |
Sinja Rist |
title |
Quantification of plankton-sized microplastics in a productive coastal Arctic marine ecosystem |
title_short |
Quantification of plankton-sized microplastics in a productive coastal Arctic marine ecosystem |
title_full |
Quantification of plankton-sized microplastics in a productive coastal Arctic marine ecosystem |
title_fullStr |
Quantification of plankton-sized microplastics in a productive coastal Arctic marine ecosystem |
title_full_unstemmed |
Quantification of plankton-sized microplastics in a productive coastal Arctic marine ecosystem |
title_sort |
quantification of plankton-sized microplastics in a productive coastal arctic marine ecosystem |
publisher |
Zenodo |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2020.115248 |
genre |
Greenland Nuuk |
genre_facet |
Greenland Nuuk |
op_source |
Environmental Pollution, 266, (2020-07-14) |
op_relation |
https://zenodo.org/communities/eu https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2020.115248 oai:zenodo.org:4984493 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2020.115248 |
container_title |
Environmental Pollution |
container_volume |
266 |
container_start_page |
115248 |
_version_ |
1810447570470699008 |