Potential transfer of organic pollutants from littoral plastics debris to the marine environment

León, Victor; García, Ignacio; González, Emilia; Samper, Raquel; Fernández-González, V.; Muniategui-Lorenzo, Soledad

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2018.01.114

Cited by 109 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Plastics may take hundreds to thousands of years to degrade in the environment (Barnes et al, 2009), and degradation is thought to encourage leaching of toxic substances (Lithner et al, 2009) and transport of organic contaminants (León et al, 2018). Plastic debris released into the environment also has the potential to accumulate additional toxicants, with metals such as cadmium being found to adsorb to plastics in marine waters (Boucher et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the Toxicity of Leachates From Weathered Plastics on Photosynthetic Marine Bacteria Prochlorococcus

et al. 2020

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Marine plastic pollution is a well-recognized, global problem. Research addressing plastic pollution has largely focused on investigating impacts on macroorganisms, with few studies investigating effects on marine microbes. We previously showed that marine Prochlorococcus, which are important contributors to oceanic primary production, suffer declines in growth and photosynthetic activity following exposure to leachates from new plastic bags (HDPE) and plastic matting (PVC). However, as such plastics reside in the environment they will be subject to weathering processes, so it is also important to consider how these may alter the composition and amounts of substances available to leach. Here we report on how plastic leachate toxicity is affected by environmental weathering (17-and 112-days in estuarine water) of these common plastic materials. We found that while toxicity was reduced by weathering, materials weathered for up to 112days continued to leach substances that negatively affected Prochlorococcus growth, photophysiology and membrane integrity. Weathered plastics were found to continue to leach zinc, even after up to 112-days in the environment. The two Prochlorococcus strains tested, NATL2A and MIT9312, showed differences in the sensitivity and timing of their responses, indicating that exposure to leachate from weathered plastics may affect even closely related strains to different degrees. As many marine regions inhabited by Prochlorococcus are likely to be subject to continued accumulation of plastic pollution, our findings highlight the potential for ongoing impacts on these important primary producers.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the Toxicity of Leachates From Weathered Plastics on Photosynthetic Marine Bacteria Prochlorococcus

et al. 2020

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“…Also, the south part of La Manga suffers more strongly with the urban pressure, and although not as intensively as in summer, even in winter the nice weather conditions attract a considerable number of tourists, adding to the local population, which is more concentrated in this area. Moreover, recent reports highlight the occurrence of plastic debris in the Mar Menor area, and their role as transport vectors of organic pollutants, including PCPs, to this enclosed environment (León et al, 2018). Although the authors did not measure VMSs specifically, plastic debris could be a currently unexplored source for this family of compounds.…”

Section: Mediterranean Coastline Of the Region Of Murcia Spainmentioning

confidence: 99%

Marine vegetation analysis for the determination of volatile methylsiloxanes in coastal areas

Rocha

Homem

Castro-Jiménez

et al. 2019

Science of The Total Environment

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Volatile methylsiloxanes (VMSs) are massively produced chemicals that comprise a wide range of industrial and household applications. The presence of cyclic and linear VMSs in several environmental matrices and ecosystems indicates persistence associated with a potential of (bio)accumulation and food web transfer with possible toxicological effects. Due to the high anthropogenic pressure in its vicinities particularly in summer, coastal areas in Southern European countries are potential hotspots for the presence of VMSs. The massive afflux of tourists and consequent increase of the use of personal care products (PCPs) with VMSs in their formulations highlight the importance of VMSs assessment in such areas. In this study, different species of marine vegetation (algae and seaweed) were collected in three different geographical areas, covering the Atlantic Ocean (North coast of Portugal), as well as the Mediterranean Sea (coasts of the Region of Murcia, Spain and of the city of Marseille, France). Samples were analysed for the determination of 4 cyclic (D3, D4, D5, D6) and 3 linear (L3, L4, L5) VMSs employing a QuEChERS extraction methodology, followed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) quantification. VMSs were detected in 92% of the 74 samples analysed, with the sum of the concentrations per sample ranging from below the limit of detection (LOD) to 458 ± 26 ng•g −1 dw (dry weight). A strong predominance of cyclic VMSs over linear ones was verified in almost all samples studied, with D5 and D6 found at higher concentrations. Seasonal variation was also assessed and despite higher levels of VMSs being identified mostly in summer months, clear seasonal trends were not perceived. It was also noted that generally the higher incidence of VMSs occurred in samples from urban and industrialized areas or in the vicinities of WWTPs, suggesting a direct input from these sources in the levels of siloxanes observed.

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“…It is well known that the most hydrophobic organic chemicals show the slower release from polymers. Experimental results reported in the literature indicate that desorption kinetics from PE-particles in marine environment is generally slow for highly hydrophobic compounds, concluding that the higher the log K PEW (> 5-6), the lesser the fraction desorbed within a given time (Endo et al, 2013;León et al, 2018). In fact, the most recent studies concluded that MP in the environment are expected to act as sinks for HOC (e.g.…”

Section: Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polyethylene microplastics do not increase bioaccumulation or toxicity of nonylphenol and 4-MBC to marine zooplankton

Beiras

Muniategui-Lorenzo

Rodil

et al. 2019

Science of The Total Environment

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Global production of synthetic polymers, led by polyethylene (PE), rose steadily in the last decades, and marine ecosystems are considered as a global sink. Although PE is not biodegradable, in coastal areas it fragments into microplastics (MP) readily taken up by biota, and have been postulated as vectors of hydrophobic chemicals to marine organisms. We have tested this hypothesis using two organisms representative of the marine plankton, the holoplanktonic copepod Acartia clausi, and the meroplanktonic larva of the Paracentrotus lividus sea-urchin, and two model chemicals with similar

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Potential transfer of organic pollutants from littoral plastics debris to the marine environment

Cited by 109 publications

References 40 publications

Assessing the Toxicity of Leachates From Weathered Plastics on Photosynthetic Marine Bacteria Prochlorococcus

Assessing the Toxicity of Leachates From Weathered Plastics on Photosynthetic Marine Bacteria Prochlorococcus

Marine vegetation analysis for the determination of volatile methylsiloxanes in coastal areas

Polyethylene microplastics do not increase bioaccumulation or toxicity of nonylphenol and 4-MBC to marine zooplankton

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