Antifouling paint particles in intertidal estuarine sediments from southwest England and their ingestion by the harbour ragworm, Hediste diversicolor

Abstract

Antifouling paint particles (APPs) of between 500 m and > 2 mm in diameter have been identified in silty, intertidal estuarine sediments through a combination of microscopy and xray fluorescence spectrometry. APPs were heterogeneously distributed, with maximal concentrations of 430 particles L-1 (0.2 g L-1) near to a facility where boats are regularly maintained and 400 particles L-1 (4.2 g L-1) at a location where old boats had been abandoned, with the majority of particles encountered in the finest size fraction retrieved. APPs contained variable concentrations of Cu, Zn, Sn and Pb, with respective maxima of 562,000, 269,000, 9,970 and 126,000 mg kg-1. These characteristics are attributed to a multitude of contemporary and historic sources of an assortment of formulations and result in significant but heterogeneous metal contamination of local sediments. APPs were also identified in the guts of the deposit-feeding ragworm, Hediste diversicolor, that inhabited sediments impacted by abandoned boats or boating activities. The tissue of H. diversicolor was particularly enriched in Cu where ingested APPs were observed, with a significant correlation between Cu concentrations in the two media (r = 0.734) presumably reflecting the inability of the animal to regulate this metal. While the toxicity of APPs requires further investigation, there is clearly a need for stricter regulations on antifouling wastes in boatyards and marinas and a requirement to better manage abandoned boats.

Microplastics in fish and fishmeal: an emerging environmental challenge?

“…Secondary microplastics stem from the disintegration of larger plastic items. Such secondary microplastics can be fragments generated through weathering and disintegration processes from plastics already present in the environment, but they can also be microfibres released from laundry or paint flaking off the bottom of marine structures or vessels 7,[9][10][11] . Microplastics have been found in all marine compartments, including biota 8,12 .…”

Paint particles in the marine environment: An overlooked component of microplastics

“…Regarding biocides, the typical content in protected plastics is < 1,000 mg kg −1 (Dylingowski and, 2004 ). This contrasts with Cu(I) concentrations in the dry films of contemporary and historical antifouling formulations of up to 50% by weight ( Muller-Karanassos et al., 2019 ).…”

“…Paint particles may be ingested passively while suspended in the water or attached to dietary material like algae ( Russell et al., 2011 ), or mistaken for items of food like zooplankton because of similarities in colour, size and texture ( Kang et al., 2015b ). In controlled laboratory experiments involving a range of suspension- and deposit-feeding invertebrates, ground antifouling paint particle composites appear to be ingested without any avoidance mechanisms evident ( Turner et al., 2008 ; Turner et al., 2009 ; Muller-Karanssos et al., 2019 ). Likewise, studies in the avian literature suggest that paint particles may be incidentally, or even deliberately ingested by seabirds and waterfowl while foraging for food ( Molnar, 1983 ; Sileo and Fefer, 1987 ; Turner, 2010 ).…”

“…(2018) Pelagic fish* Musa estuary and Persian Gulf < 0.3 antifouling Abbasi et al. (2018) Ragworm, Hediste diversicolor Plymouth Sound, SW England < 2.6 antifouling Muller-Karanassos et al. (2019) Atlantic chub mackerel, Scomber colias Canary Island coast < 5 ns Herrera et al.…”

Critical Gaps in Shoreline Plastics Pollution Research

“…The widespread use of this research technique, often guided by standard protocols, is illustrated by the breadth of environments that have been examined for plastic debris characterisation and distribution. These environments include: popular tourist beaches (Retama et al, 2016;da Silva et al, 2018), remote islands (Andrades et al, 2018;Hipfner et al, 2018;Rech et al, 2018), mangrove forests (Cordeiro and Costa, 2010;Martin et al, 2019), mudflats (Lo et al, 2018;Phuong et al, 2018), industrial harbours (Abu-Hilal and Al-Najjar, 2004;Muller-Karanassos et al, 2019), and Arctic and Antarctic shorelines (Convey et al, 2002;Eriksson et al, 2013;Bergmann et al, 2017).…”