Distribution, abundance and spatial variability of microplastic pollution on the surface of Lake Superior

Cox, Kara; Brocious, Emily; Courtenay, Simon C.; Vinson, Mark R.; Mason, Sherri A.

doi:10.1016/j.jglr.2021.08.005

Cited by 13 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Earn et al ranked the lakes from highest to lowest by average MP concentrations in round numbers, as follows: Lake St. Clair (355,000 particles/km 2 ), Lake Erie (162,000 particles/km 2 ), Lake Huron (111,000 particles/km 2 ), Lake Superior (35,000 particles/km 2 ), and Lake Michigan (17,000 particles/km 2 ). Cox et al published a study quantifying the concentration of MPs in Lake Superior surface water after Earn et al published their review, reporting about 30,000 particles/km 2 on average, 39 which is very similar to the average reported by Earn et al As noted, these estimates are from a relative handful of measurements considering the vast expanse of the Great Lakes, and reported concentrations range over multiple orders of magnitude. Earn et al illustrated the high variability across the limited set of samples for a single lake, as shown in Figure 1B.…”

Section: In the Great Lakessupporting

confidence: 61%

Microplastics in the Great Lakes: Environmental, Health, and Socioeconomic Implications and Future Directions

Fuschi

MacDonell

et al. 2022

ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng.

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Microplastics (MPs) are tiny pieces of plastic (<5 mm) that have been manufactured, shed from textiles, or formed as the degradation products of macroplastics. They can be taken up by aquatic organisms, leading to their incorporation into the food chain. Humans can consume MPs from fish as well as other impacted sources including bottled and tap water. MPs may pose risks to exposed organisms, and they can also act as vectors carrying additional adsorbed chemical pollutants and pathogens. MPs are an especially important focus regarding the Great Lakes because plastics comprise most of the litter, and the Great Lakes serve as a source of drinking water for 40 million people. This perspective summarizes the current state of MP pollution in the Great Lakes and potential risks posed to the environment, wildlife, and humans. A survey of detection, separation, and quantification methods is included. Potential remedies are explored, focusing on policy, human behavior, and the goal of a circular economy. Further research directions include standardizing detection and removal methods, assessing the health risk of MPs in the Great Lakes, and evaluating mitigation options.

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Section: In the Great Lakessupporting

confidence: 61%

Microplastics in the Great Lakes: Environmental, Health, and Socioeconomic Implications and Future Directions

Fuschi

MacDonell

et al. 2022

ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng.

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“…In 2013, Eriksen et al reported an average microplastic concentration of 5397 ± 4547 particles km –2 at five locations in Eastern Lake Superior and an average concentration of 43 157 ± 115 519 particles km –2 for all 21 study locations throughout Lakes Superior, Huron, and Erie . In 2021, Cox et al reported an average microplastic concentration of 29 948 particles km –2 in the 0.5–4.75 mm size class for 187 sites in Lake Superior sampled by neuston net …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…17 particles km −2 in the 0.5−4.75 mm size class for 187 sites in Lake Superior sampled by neuston net. 19 Of the 129 manta net particles that were visually detected as microplastics via optical microscopy in this study, 25 were large enough to be extracted for ATR-FTIR analysis (Table S9). Of all polymer types detected by ATR-FTIR, the predominance of polyethylene (PE) (44%), polypropylene (PP) (20%), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) (28%) (Figure S10 and Table S9) in Western Lake Superior is in agreement with the fact that the majority of plastic in production is PE, PP, and PET.…”

Section: ■ Materials and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Despite making headway toward an improved understanding of microplastics in the marine water column, to our knowledge, no research has attempted to characterize the vertical distribution of microplastics throughout the water column in any freshwater lentic system, including the Laurentian Great Lakes. Although a significant amount of research has been conducted regarding microplastics in the surface waters, − sediments, − and tributaries , of the Great Lakes, the water column itself remains conspicuously undersampled and uncharacterized.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Herein, we sample multiple locations in Lake Superior using in situ pumping, a technique that has not previously been used within the Great Lakes for microplastic research. While there exists a growing body of data regarding the concentration of microplastics in the surface waters of Lake Superior, − in order to better estimate the total load of microplastics in the lake, it is important to understand concentrations of microplastics in the water column and how they relate to surface water concentrations. To compare surface water concentrations to water column concentrations, we performed manta net sampling along with in situ pumping at various depths at each location.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Microplastics in the Water Column of Western Lake Superior

et al. 2022

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Microplastic contamination of surface waters, sediments, and shorelines of the Laurentian Great Lakes has received substantial attention. However, little is known regarding the presence of microplastics in the pelagic water column within these freshwater systems. We sampled the water column and the air−water interface at four locations in western Lake Superior. Our results show that microplastics are present in the Lake Superior water column under both stratified and unstratified conditions. The depth distributions found at the Lake Superior sites suggest that, to understand the total load of microplastics, it is insufficient to extrapolate from surface water concentrations alone. Additionally, we investigated the relationships between microplastic abundance and water column characteristics (e.g., temperature or clarity); no significant correlations were found across all sample sites. Finally, we developed an automated computational pipeline to detect microplastics based on hyperspectral data gathered via FTIR microscopy. The automated approach was capable of accurately detecting relative differences in microplastic abundances but consistently overpredicted particle abundance as compared to manual analysis of both natural and control samples. This research extends our understanding of the distributions of microplastics within large lake systems and develops a new tool for automatic detection of microplastics in natural samples.

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Microplastics in Abiotic Compartments of a Hypersaline Lacustrine Ecosystem

Alirezazadeh

Nematollahi

Keshavarzi

et al. 2022

Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry

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The study of microplastics in inland water bodies has been growing recently, but there is still insufficient knowledge of the status of microplastics in lacustrine ecosystems, especially saline lakes. Studies have also been conducted on sediment, water, and biological compartments of lakes. In the present study, the status of microplastics in abiotic compartments of the saline Maharloo Lake (Iran) was evaluated for the first time and included surface sediment, lake salt, sludge, lake water, and wastewater. A total of 742 microplastics, mainly clear and fibrous, ranging from 50 to 250 µm in size and composed of polypropylene and polyethylene terephthalate, were identified in 33 samples. Mean microplastic concentrations in solid samples were higher than in liquid ones, with the highest levels (51.7 microplastics kg −1 ) in sludge and the lowest levels in lake salt (10.4 microplastics kg −1 ). The highest microplastic levels were found in the northwest area of the lake, where wastewater effluents from urban, industrial, and agricultural activities discharge into the lake. Inter-relationship assessments of microplastics with hierarchical cluster analysis suggested that differences in the distribution of microplastics with different physical properties in Maharloo Lake are greatly affected by weathering processes and proximity to contaminated hotspots. Our results reveal that the widespread occurrence of microplastics in Maharloo Lake mostly originates from potential plastic sources in urban areas of Shiraz Metropolis and its industrial zone in the vicinity of the study area; thus microplastics are dispersed into the lake via surface runoffs, especially wastewater inflows.

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Distribution, abundance and spatial variability of microplastic pollution on the surface of Lake Superior

Cited by 13 publications

References 37 publications

Microplastics in the Great Lakes: Environmental, Health, and Socioeconomic Implications and Future Directions

Microplastics in the Great Lakes: Environmental, Health, and Socioeconomic Implications and Future Directions

Microplastics in the Water Column of Western Lake Superior

Microplastics in Abiotic Compartments of a Hypersaline Lacustrine Ecosystem

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