Large Accumulation of Micro-sized Synthetic Polymer Particles in the Sea Surface Microlayer

Song, Young Kyoung; Hong, Sang Hee; Jang, Mi; Kang, Jung-Hoon; Kwon, Oh Youn; Han, Gi Myung; Shim, Won Joon

doi:10.1021/es501757s

Cited by 480 publications

(236 citation statements)

References 34 publications

(63 reference statements)

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“…Their presence in surface water (Barnes et al 2009;Song et al 2014), beaches and sediment (Katsanevakis et al 2007) has been reported from many parts of the world, including even the Arctic (Obbard et al 2014). Additionally, microplastics have been reported in estuaries and freshwater bodies (Lima et al 2014).…”

Section: Microplastics In the Oceansmentioning

confidence: 99%

Persistence of Plastic Litter in the Oceans

Andrady

2015

Marine Anthropogenic Litter

338

274

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The increasing global production and use of plastics has led to an accumulation of enormous amounts of plastic litter in the world's oceans. Characteristics such as low density, good mechanical properties and low cost allow for successful use of plastics in industries and everyday life but the high durability leads to persistence of the synthetic polymers in the marine environment where they cause harm to a great variety of organisms. In the diverse marine habitats, including beaches, the sea surface, the water column, and the seafloor, plastics are exposed to different environmental conditions that either accelerate or decelerate the physical, chemical and biological degradation of plastics. Degradation of plastics occurs primarily through solar UV-radiation induced photo oxidation reactions and is, thus, most intensive in photic environments such as the sea surface and on beaches. The rate of degradation is temperature-dependent resulting in considerable deceleration of the processes in seawater, which is a good heat sink. Below the photic zone in the water column, plastics degrade very slowly resulting in high persistence of plastic litter especially at the seafloor. Biological decomposition of plastics by microorganisms is negligible in the marine environment because the kinetics of biodegradation at sea is particularly slow and oxygen supply for these processes limited. Degradation of larger plastic items leads to the formation of abundant small microplastics. The transport of small particles to the seafloor and their deposition in the benthic environment is facilitated by the colonization of the material by fouling organisms, which increase the density of the particles and force them to sink.

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Section: Microplastics In the Oceansmentioning

confidence: 99%

Persistence of Plastic Litter in the Oceans

Andrady

2015

Marine Anthropogenic Litter

338

274

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“…The North Pacific Ocean and its marginal seas have the highest microplastic contamination levels in the world (Eriksen et al 2014;Song et al 2014;Cózar et al 2015). Therefore, it is important to collect and share information on microplastic pollution in the North Pacific region among global scientific and policy audiences.…”

Section: Papers Presented In This Special Issuementioning

confidence: 99%

“…One estimate for the minimum total quantity of floating plastic litter ([0.33 mm in size) in the oceans is 0.27 tons (5.25 trillion particles), with microplastics (0.33-4.75 mm in size) accounting for 92 % by number of plastic particles and 13 % by weight (Eriksen et al 2014). However, these data do not include plastics on the seabed (Woodall et al 2014) and beaches (Browne et al 2010) or those of particle size 0.001-0.33 mm, which account for the majority of the total abundance of microplastics (Song et al 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microplastics in the Ocean

Shim

Thomposon

2015

Arch Environ Contam Toxicol

Self Cite

171

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Since their ubiquity in the ocean and marine organisms was first revealed, global concern about microplastics has grown considerably. The North Pacific Ocean and the adjacent marginal seas have high levels of microplastic contamination compared with the global average. This special issue on microplastics was organized by the North Pacific Marine Science Organization to share information on microplastic pollution in the North Pacific region. The special issue highlights high levels of contamination in the North Pacific both on shorelines and at the sea surface. Particularly high levels of contamination were reported on the western and southern coasts of Korea. Sources, including sewage discharge, aquaculture, and shipyards, were implicated. With the direction and energy of surface winds and currents have an important influence on shoreline patterns of distribution. The special issue also demonstrates potential for ingestion of microplastic by small planktonic organisms at the base of the food chain. A wide range of chemicals are associated with plastic debris and concerns are expressed about the potential for these chemicals to transfer to biota upon ingestion. As an introduction to the topic, this paper provides a brief background on microplastic contamination, highlights some key research gaps, and summarizes findings from the articles published in this issue.

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“…This could be relevant to the study of the biodegradation of oil products forming oil slicks at the sea surface [45], and associated impacts on marine biota and ecosystem functioning [46]. Another application for the SISI might be the incubation of water samples containing microplastics, whose higher abundance in the SML, compared to underlying water, has been recently described [47]. Bacterial colonization of polymer-based materials and biofilm formation [48], as well as microbial degradation of microplastic particles [49], constitute highly topical research areas that could be further investigated using the SISI.…”

Section: Future Research Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

SISI: A New Device for In Situ Incubations at the Ocean Surface

Rahlff

Stolle

Wurl

2017

JMSE

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Abstract:The sea-surface microlayer (SML) forms the uppermost boundary layer between atmosphere and ocean, and has distinctive physico-chemical and biological features compared to the underlying water. First findings on metabolic contributions of microorganisms to gas exchange processes across the SML raised the need for new in situ technologies to explore plankton-oxygen turnover in this special habitat. Here, we describe an inexpensive research tool, the Surface In Situ Incubator (SISI), which allows simultaneous incubations of the SML, and water samples from 1 m and 5 m, at the respective depths of origin. The SISI is deployed from a small boat, seaworthy up to 5 bft (Beaufort scale), and due to global positioning system (GPS) tracking, capable of drifting freely for hours or days. We tested the SISI by applying light/dark bottle incubations in the Baltic Sea and the tropical Pacific Ocean under various conditions to present first data on planktonic oxygen turnover rates within the SML, and two subsurface depths. The SISI offers the potential to study plankton-oxygen turnover within the SML under the natural influence of abiotic parameters, and hence, is a valuable tool to routinely monitor their physiological role in biogeochemical cycling and gas exchange processes at, and near, the sea surface.

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Large Accumulation of Micro-sized Synthetic Polymer Particles in the Sea Surface Microlayer

Cited by 480 publications

References 34 publications

Persistence of Plastic Litter in the Oceans

Persistence of Plastic Litter in the Oceans

Microplastics in the Ocean

SISI: A New Device for In Situ Incubations at the Ocean Surface

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