Occurrence and sources of microplastics and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in surface sediments of Svalbard, Arctic

Yang, Lin; Cen, Zhengnan; Peng, Jing; Yu, Huimin; Huang, Peng; Huang, Qinghui; Lu, Zhibo; Li, Mengyang; Ke, Hongwei; Cai, Minggang

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.114116

Cited by 10 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…A quick internet search shows that fishing nets made of green polypropylene fibres are myriad, and the very high concentration of polypropylene fibres from sample 9 strongly suggests that a beached polypropylene net had disintegrated there. Fisheries debris was also suggested as a prime source of microplastics detected in subtidal sediments of the fjords of Svalbard (Lin et al, 2022).…”

Section: Plastic Polymers and Fragmentation Processesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The rising plastic pollution of Svalbard's coastline could be due to local people or tourists, but the vast majority is likely transported to Svalbard's coastline by the surrounding ocean currents, with the debris originating from local and distant fishing activities as well as distant land-based sources (Bergmann et al, 2022a;Meyer et al, 2023 several studies have already investigated the amount and distribution of macroplastic and other large man-made debris along Svalbard's coastline (Nashoug, 2017;Jaskólski et al, 2018;Węsławski and Kotwicki, 2018;Falk-Andersson and Strietman, 2019;Falk-Andersson et al, 2021;Liutkus et al, 2022), including four studies where at least some of the data were collected by citizen scientists (Bergmann et al, 2017b;Strand et al, 2021;Meyer et al, 2023). While evidence of microplastics along the coasts and fjords of Svalbard has recently emerged Choudhary et al, 2022;Lin et al, 2022), baseline information on microplastic pollution levels of its beaches or Arctic beaches in general (Sundet et al, 2016;Sundet et al, 2017;Granberg et al, 2019;Blinovskaya et al, 2020) is still sparse.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Citizen scientists reveal small but concentrated amounts of fragmented microplastic on Arctic beaches

Pasolini,

Walther,

Bergmann

2023

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Plastic production and plastic waste have increased to such an extent that it has become globally ubiquitous. Recent research has highlighted that it has also invaded remote Polar Regions including the Arctic, where it is expected to accumulate over time due to transport from distant sources, rising local anthropogenic activities and increasing fragmentation of existing ocean plastics to microplastics (plastic items <5 mm). While a growing body of research has documented microplastics in the atmosphere, cryosphere, sea surface, water column, sediments and biota, contamination levels on Arctic beaches are poorly known. To fill this knowledge gap, we engaged citizen scientists participating in tourist cruises to sample beach sediments during shore visits on Svalbard, Norway. Following drying, sieving, and visual inspection of samples under a binocular microscope, putative plastic particles ≥1 mm were analysed by attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. Plastic particles ≥1 mm were found in two out of 53 samples from 23 beaches (mean: 196.3 particles kg−1 and 147.4 particles L−1). These pollution levels could be due to our focus on plastic particles ≥1 mm as well as the relatively small sample sizes used during this initial phase of the project. In addition, the coarse substrate on most beaches might retain fewer plastic particles. The two samples with plastic particles ≥1 mm contained six polyester-epoxide particles and 4920 polypropylene fibres. The latter likely originated from a fishing net and points to possibly accelerated plastic fragmentation processes on Arctic beaches. Since fisheries-related debris is an important source of plastic on Svalbard, a build-up of microplastic quantities can be expected to burden Arctic ecosystems in addition to climate change unless efficient upstream action is taken to combat plastic pollution.

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Section: Plastic Polymers and Fragmentation Processesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

Citizen scientists reveal small but concentrated amounts of fragmented microplastic on Arctic beaches

Pasolini,

Walther,

Bergmann

2023

Front. Environ. Sci.

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“…Up to a few years ago, ocean currents were thought to be the main transport pathways to remote locations, such as polar regions [15], but the detection of MPs in snow, ice, and air samples has proved that the atmosphere plays a critical role in their global spread to the Arctic [10,20,21]. In the Arctic region, MPs have been detected almost everywhere (i.e., rivers, oceans, sediments, and the associated biota) [10,[22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37]. Regarding plastic pollution in marine biota, in Nordic marine environments, MPs were reported in 14 fish species, some of commercial importance, as well as in blue mussels and marine worms; ingestion of plastic particles was found also in many seabirds and mammals [38].…”

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confidence: 99%

Small Microplastics: A yet Unknown Threat in the Svalbard (Norway) Region

Caruso,

Iannilli,

Vitale

et al. 2023

JMSE

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The Arctic Ocean is undergoing several transformations because of global climate change. Small microplastics (SMPs) or nanoplastics (NPs) carried by marine aerosols may settle in the land ice and be released to the waters, produced following its melting. As sea ice extent reduces and shipping and fishing activities increase, microplastics (MPs) may enter the region following ocean and maritime transports, with implications on Arctic biota, human health, and socioeconomic issues related to the exploitation of marine resources. First analyses on amphipods collected in Ny-Ålesund confirmed the presence of SMPs. Nevertheless, the threat posed by SMPs/NPs to polar biota and regional human health is not fully understood. This article addresses this issue and the need for organisms as potential bioindicators of plastic pollution, which is currently being carried out in the Svalbard region under the framework of the MICROTRACER project funded by the Italian Arctic Research Program (PRA, Call 2021). The outputs of this research are expected to contribute to deepening the current knowledge of SMPs in Svalbard, providing new insights on their occurrence, distribution, and transfer through the marine trophic web, to realize effective control and regulatory framework measures to implement an integrated multidisciplinary approach for monitoring and to reduce MPs pollution in this fragile polar environment.

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Microplastics in the seawater of the Beibu Gulf, the northern South China Sea: occurrence, sources, and ecological risk

Zhu,

Su,

Wei

et al. 2024

J. Ocean. Limnol.

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Occurrence and sources of microplastics and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in surface sediments of Svalbard, Arctic

Cited by 10 publications

References 58 publications

Citizen scientists reveal small but concentrated amounts of fragmented microplastic on Arctic beaches

Citizen scientists reveal small but concentrated amounts of fragmented microplastic on Arctic beaches

Small Microplastics: A yet Unknown Threat in the Svalbard (Norway) Region

Microplastics in the seawater of the Beibu Gulf, the northern South China Sea: occurrence, sources, and ecological risk

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