Floating marine debris in fjords, gulfs and channels of southern Chile

Hinojosa, Iván A.; Thiel, Martín

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2008.10.020

Cited by 225 publications

(82 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Visual observation studies in southern Chilean fjords revealed 1-250 items km −2 >2 cm during seven oceanographic cruises from 2002 to 2005 (Hinojosa and Thiel 2009;Hinojosa et al 2011;Thiel et al 2013). Typically, densities in the northern areas ranged from 10 to 50 items km −2 .…”

Section: Floating Marine Debrismentioning

confidence: 99%

Global Distribution, Composition and Abundance of Marine Litter

Galgani

Hanke

Maes

2015

Marine Anthropogenic Litter

384

338

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Marine debris is commonly observed everywhere in the oceans. Litter enters the seas from both land-based sources, from ships and other installations at sea, from point and diffuse sources, and can travel long distances before being stranded. Plastics typically constitute the most important part of marine litter sometimes accounting for up to 100 % of floating litter. On beaches, most studies have demonstrated densities in the 1 item m −2 range except for very high concentrations because of local conditions, after typhoons or flooding events. Floating marine debris ranges from 0 to beyond 600 items km −2 . On the sea bed, the abundance of plastic debris is very dependent on location, with densities ranging from 0 to >7700 items km −2 , mainly in coastal areas. Recent studies have demonstrated that pollution of microplastics, particles <5 mm, has spread at the surface of oceans, in the water column and in sediments, even in the deep sea. Concentrations at the water surface ranged from thousands to hundred thousands of particles km −2 . Fluxes vary widely with factors such as proximity of urban activities, shore and coastal uses, wind and ocean currents. These enable the presence of accumulation areas in oceanic convergence zones and on the seafloor, notably in coastal canyons. Temporal trends are not clear with evidences for increases, decreases or without changes, depending on locations and environmental conditions. In terms of distribution and quantities, proper global estimations based on standardized approaches are still needed before considering efficient management and reduction measures.

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Section: Floating Marine Debrismentioning

confidence: 99%

Global Distribution, Composition and Abundance of Marine Litter

Galgani

Hanke

Maes

2015

Marine Anthropogenic Litter

384

338

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“…The data were then processed in terms of quantity, size and quality. The density of macrolitter was calculated using the formula (Hinojosa and Thiel, 2009)…”

Section: Quantification and Monitoring Of Floating Macrolittermentioning

confidence: 99%

Plastic Debris Occurrence, Convergence Areas and Fin Whales Feeding Ground in the Mediterranean Marine Protected Area Pelagos Sanctuary: A Modeling Approach

et al. 2017

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The Mediterranean Sea is greatly affected by marine litter. In this area, research on the impact of plastic debris (including microplastics) on biota, particularly large filter-feeding species such as the fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus), is still in its infancy. We investigated the possible overlap between microplastic, mesoplastic and macrolitter accumulation areas and the fin whale feeding grounds in in a pelagic Specially Protected Area of Mediterranean Importance (SPAMI): the Pelagos Sanctuary. Models of ocean circulation and fin whale potential habitat were merged to compare marine litter accumulation with the presence of whales. Additionally, field data on microplastics, mesoplastics, and macrolitter abundance and cetacean presence were simultaneously collected. The resulting data were compared, as a multi-layer, with the simulated distribution of plastic concentration and the whale habitat model. These data showed a high occurrence of microplastics (mean: 0.082 items/m 2 , STD ± 0.079 items/m 2 ) spatial distribution agreed with our modeling results. Areas with high microplastic density significantly overlapped with areas of high macroplastic density. The most abundant polymer detected in all the sampling sites was polyethylene (PE), suggesting fragmentation of larger packaging items as the primary source. To our knowledge, this is the first study in the Pelagos Sanctuary in which the simulated microplastic distribution has been confirmed by field observations. The overlap between the fin whale feeding habitat and the microplastic hot spots is an important contribution for risk assessment of fin whale exposure to microplastics.

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“…Offshore sources for plastic litter are vessels, boats or offshore platforms, [10] contents of lost containers from cargo shipping, [8] the world's fishing fleet [6] and the marine aquaculture. [11] Independently of where the plastic litter originates from, the still increasing global production of synthetic polymers leads to the fact that the amount of litter that arrives in the oceans will constantly increase in the future [12] which leads to an accumulation of plastic litter in the marine environment. [7,13] Whether deliberately dumped or accidentally lost, plastic litter can persist within marine habitats for prolonged periods of time, as a result of both the durability of polymeric materials and the prevailing physical and chemical conditions at sea (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Focal plane array detector-based micro-Fourier-transform infrared imaging for the analysis of microplastics in environmental samples

et al. 2015

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Environmental context. Microplastics are of increasing environmental concern following reports that they occur worldwide from the arctic to the deep sea. However, a reliable methodology that facilitates an automated measurement of abundance and identity of microplastics is still lacking. We present an analytical protocol that applies focal plane array detector-based infrared imaging of microplastics enriched on membrane filters applicable to investigations of microplastic pollution of the environment.Abstract. The pollution of the environment with microplastics (plastic pieces ,5 mm) is a problem of increasing concern. However, although this has been generally recognised by scientists and authorities, the analysis of microplastics is often done by visual inspection alone with potentially high error rates, especially for smaller particles. Methods that allow for a fast and reliable analysis of microplastics enriched on filters are lacking. Our study is the first to fill this gap by using focal plane array detector-based micro-Fourier-transform infrared imaging for analysis of microplastics from environmental samples. As a result of our iteratively optimised analytical approach (concerning filter material, measuring mode, measurement parameters and identification protocol), we were able to successfully measure the whole surface (>10-mm diameter) of filters with microplastics from marine plankton and sediment samples. The measurement with a high lateral resolution allowed for the detection of particles down to a size of 20 mm in only a fractional part of time needed for chemical mapping. The integration of three band regions facilitated the pre-selection of potential microplastics of the ten most important polymers. Subsequent to the imaging the review of the infrared spectra of the pre-selected potential microplastics was necessary for a verification of plastic polymer origin. The approach we present here is highly suitable to be implemented as a standard procedure for the analysis of small microplastics from environmental samples. However, a further automatisation with respect to measurement and subsequent particle identification would facilitate the even faster and fully automated analysis of microplastic samples.

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Floating marine debris in fjords, gulfs and channels of southern Chile

Cited by 225 publications

References 36 publications

Global Distribution, Composition and Abundance of Marine Litter

Global Distribution, Composition and Abundance of Marine Litter

Plastic Debris Occurrence, Convergence Areas and Fin Whales Feeding Ground in the Mediterranean Marine Protected Area Pelagos Sanctuary: A Modeling Approach

Focal plane array detector-based micro-Fourier-transform infrared imaging for the analysis of microplastics in environmental samples

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