Global patterns for the spatial distribution of floating microfibers: Arctic Ocean as a potential accumulation zone

Abstract

Despite their representativeness, most studies to date have underestimated the amount of microfibers (MFs) in the marine environment. Therefore, further research is still necessary to identify key processes governing MF distribution. Here, the interaction among surface water temperature, salinity, currents and winds explained the patterns of MF accumulation. The estimated density of floating MFs is ~5900 ± 6800 items m − 3 in the global ocean; and three patterns of accumulation were predicted by the proposed model: (i) intermediate densities in ocean gyres, Seas of Japan and of Okhotsk, Mediterranean and around the Antarctic Ocean; (ii) high densities in the Arctic Ocean; and (iii) point zones of highest densities inside the Arctic Seas. Coastal areas and upwelling systems have low accumulation potential. At the same time, zones of divergences between westerlies and trade winds, located above the tropical oceanic gyres, are predicted to accumulate MFs. In addition, it is likely that the warm branch of the thermohaline circulation has an important role in the transport of MFs towards the Arctic Ocean, emphasizing that surface water masses are important predictors. This study highlights that the Arctic Ocean is a dead end for floating MFs.

First Evidence of Retrospective Findings of Microplastics in Harbour Porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) From German Waters

“…In contrast, the microplastic concentrations in surface waters and sediment samples show higher concentration in the southern NS (Karlsson et al, 2017;Lorenz et al, 2019), compared to findings of the BS (Graca et al, 2017;Tamminga et al, 2018). Whereas, a model on the global fibre distribution in surface waters estimated a higher accumulation in the BS (∼1,760 ± 4,500 m −3 ), compared to the North Atlantic region (∼1,800 ± 1,720 m −3 ) (Lima et al, 2021). Nevertheless, an ubiquitous distribution of FIGURE 7 | Quantity of suspected microplastics (n = 401) in combination with the nutritional status and further information about the carcasses (bycaught: the harbour porpoise was (suspected to be) bycaught by a fishing boat or in a gillnet; flatfish: the harbour porpoise was affected by a pharyngeal entrapment; na: no extraordinary finding could be revealed; pregnant: pregnancy in female was noticed).…”

The fate of plastic litter within estuarine compartments: An overview of current knowledge for the transboundary issue to guide future assessments

“…Estimates concerning microplastic inputs are still doubtful (Bellasi et al, 2020;Li et al, 2018a,b;Strungaru et al, 2019). The abundance of microplastics reported by studies using pumping or grab are at least three orders of magnitude higher than those collected with plankton net tows, as small sized plastics and flexible fibres are not efficiently collected by nets even though they represent >50% e 90% of the microplastic present in the aquatic ecosystems (Lima et al, 2021). In the Austrian Danube (Austria) and Grand Paris, microplastics had an average abundance of 0.317 and 30 items m À3 when collected with plankton nets with mesh sizes of 80 mm and 500 mm, respectively (Dris et al, 2015;Lechner et al, 2014), but this increased up to 2516.7 items m À3 in the Yangtze river (China) (Zhao et al, 2014) and up to 10 5 items m À3 in the Dutch River Delta and Amsterdam Canals (Leslie et al, 2017), when samples collected by water pumping were passed through a 32 mm sieve and filtered over a 0.7 mm glass filter, respectively.…”

“…This is recommended by the Guidance on Monitoring of Marine Litter in European Seas for microplastic sampling in seawater (Galgani et al, 2013) in order to increase comparability. However, most fibres can pass through this mesh due to flexibility and small size; therefore, quantities of microfibers estimated using these methods are probably highly underestimated (Lima et al, 2021). Posterior filtration using sieves or paper filters with mesh sizes varying from 0.02 mm to 3 mm were also used (see Table S3).…”

Presence and the global implications of plastics in wild commercial fish in the Alboran Sea

“…Lima et al (2021) estimated that globally there are approximately 5900 ± 6800 m −3 microfibers in the ocean and recently it was confirmed that the highest concentrations of MPs are found on the seafloor (Kane et al, 2020). Such large plastic waste concentrations are not limited to areas of high population density but also occur in the most remote areas on the planet, from Antarctica and the Arctic Ocean (Lima et al, 2021), to abyssal depths (Peng et al, 2020).…”

“…Due to the increasing global synthetic fibers, microplastics (MPs) from synthetic textiles are likely to end up in the environment (Henry et al, 2019) and the ocean in particular (Almroth et al, 2018) mainly through washing processes and wastewater treatment plants (de Falco et al, 2019). Lima et al (2021) estimated that globally there are approximately 5900 ± 6800 m −3 microfibers in the ocean and recently it was confirmed that the highest concentrations of MPs are found on the seafloor (Kane et al, 2020). Such large plastic waste concentrations are not limited to areas of high population density but also occur in the most remote areas on the planet, from Antarctica and the Arctic Ocean (Lima et al, 2021), to abyssal depths (Peng et al, 2020).…”