Long-term trends of microplastics in seawater and farmed oysters in the Maowei Sea, China

Zhu, Jingmin; Zhang, Qiang; Huang, Yinan; Jiang, Yuping; Li, Jiana; Michal, Jennifer J.; Jiang, Zhihua; Xu, Youhou; Lan, Wenlu

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2021.116450

Cited by 52 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…In all experiments, three blank controls were used for each medium. The filtered distilled water was used as a blank in the laboratory and processed according to the same procedure used for the samples (Zhu et al, 2021). The average blank MP sample contained an abundance of 26.67 items/kg, and the final corresponding MP data were calibrated against the corresponding blanks.…”

Section: Quality Assurance and Quality Criteriamentioning

confidence: 99%

Tidal variation shaped microplastic enrichment patterns in mangrove blue carbon ecosystem of northern Beibu Gulf, China

et al. 2022

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Mangroves are considered to be a sink for microplastics (MPs) due to their unique characteristics. Previous studies mainly focused on the spatial distribution of MPs, but few researchers have addressed the influence of tidal variation on this distribution, especially since the MP total number in mangroves was unknown. In this study, surface sediment samples were collected in mangroves from the Beibu Gulf, South China Sea, and the abundance, composition, and number of MPs were investigated. The results showed that MPs were widely present in all mangrove sediment samples, with abundances ranging from 26.67 ± 9.43 to 239.94 ± 37.80 items/kg. The distribution of MPs was heterogeneous among different sampling sites, with the highest levels in the Shankou (SK) area. The MP abundance in the same mangrove forest gradually increased from the low tidal zone to the high tidal zone, with the enrichment factor ranging from 1.50 to 4.00. The MP abundance was significantly correlated with particulate organic carbon (POC) (n = 12, R = 0.664, p < 0.05). Results showed that mangroves had an interception effect on MPs and factors affecting MP distribution in mangrove sediments included not only tides but also human activities, such as aquaculture, agriculture, and residential life. Finally, this paper estimated the MP total number in mangroves at different sampling areas and tidal zones, and the middle tidal zone was considered to be more accurate for MP pollution assessment in mangroves.

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Section: Quality Assurance and Quality Criteriamentioning

confidence: 99%

Tidal variation shaped microplastic enrichment patterns in mangrove blue carbon ecosystem of northern Beibu Gulf, China

et al. 2022

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“…It is also rich in fish resources and represents as a traditional fishing ground of China and the China-Indo Peninsula. There are several evidence from recently published articles about the emerging microplastic contamination in water, sediment, and biota from Beibu Gulf, such as in Maowei Sea (Zhu et al, 2019;Zhu et al, 2021), Qin River (Zhang et al, 2020a), fishery areas, and mangrove wetlands (Li et al, 2019;Xue et al, 2020;Zhang et al, 2020b;Zhang et al, 2021). According to Zhu et al (2022), the abundances of microplastics in seawater and sediment in Beibu Gulf were 0.67 items/m 3 and 4.33 items/kg of dry weight, which give a hint on the possibility of microplastic transportation to fish and other marine organisms.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microplastic prevalence in marine fish from onshore Beibu Gulf, South China Sea

et al. 2022

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In recent years, microplastics have been widely detected in marine fish and may pose potential risks to fish and human health. Even though microplastic pollution is a critical issue, it represents as yet non-quantified threat for some context in the marine environment. In this study, 271 individuals comprising 32 species of marine fish collected from Beibu Gulf were examined for microplastic prevalence, with an aim to provide data on the abundance, physical classification, and chemical characterization of microplastics in the great bay along South China Sea. The results showed that the occurrence rate of microplastics was 93.7%, and the average abundance of microplastics was 1.02 ± 0.18 items per individual (ranging from 0.03 to 4.00 items per individual). Microplastic accumulation was observed with a great variation in different species, body sizes, living habitats, and feeding habits of marine fishes. The dominant polymers identified by μ-FTIR were polyethylene terephthalate and polypropylene. Fibers, smaller sizes (<1 mm), and transparent color were the major characteristics of the detected microplastics, which might be important factors affecting the bioaccumulation. The present study revealed that microplastics in marine fish is a widespread issue in onshore Beibu Gulf.

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“…Similar to the distribution of microplastics in seawater, microplastic abundances in sediment samples from Zhenzhu Bay, Qinzhou Bay, and Lianzhou Bay were higher than those from Tieshan Bay and other stations, far away from urban areas (Figure 6; Vaughan et al, 2017). In addition, the intensive traditional oyster farm (floating row or pile) distributed in Zhenzhu Bay, Qinzhou Bay (Maowei sea), and Lianzhou Bay contributed a large proportion of microplastics in the sediment (Zhu et al, 2019(Zhu et al, , 2021Xue et al, 2020). However, the average abundance of microplastics in L sediment stations (15.00 ± 10.74 items/kg d.w.) was only slightly higher than that of B sediment stations (12.21 ± 8.07 items/kg d.w.), indicating that a large amount of microplastics are readily transported to long distance, and sink down and bury in the sediment (Näkki et al, 2019).…”

Section: Sedimentmentioning

confidence: 60%

“…A semi-enclosed bay is likely to accumulate microplastics due to intensive anthropogenic activities and restricted water exchange (Li et al, 2018;Zhou et al, 2021). For example, up to 27.7 items/L of microplastic abundances were found in seawater of Bohai Sea (Dai et al, 2018), Maowei Sea (an inner bay of Beibu Gulf; Zhu et al, 2019Zhu et al, , 2021, and Baltic Sea (Zhou et al, 2021), in which studies bulk water sampling was employed. However, significant lower microplastic abundance in seawater of Bohai Sea was reported using trawl net sampling by Xu et al (2021), since much smaller filter pore size was used in the former method, theoretically resulted more microplastics were collected, and higher abundances were revealed than the trawl net sampling.…”

Section: Comparison Of Microplastic Abundances In Semi-enclosed Baysmentioning

confidence: 99%

Occurrence of Microplastic Pollution in the Beibu Gulf, the Northern South China Sea

et al. 2022

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In this study, microplastics were sampled and analyzed from surface water and sediment samples from July to August in 2020, in the Beibu Gulf (the northern South China Sea [SCS]), a gulf with intensive fishery activities while the economy is less developed, compared with other coastal areas of China. The abundances of microplastics in seawater and sediment in the Beibu Gulf were 0.67 items/m3 and 4.33 items/kg of dry weight, respectively. In seawater, the fragments (92.38%) contributed the most, and polystyrene (PS) was the dominant polymer (53.23%). In sediment, the most abundant microplastics were fiber (82.93%) and rayon (RY; 39.54%). The abundances of remarkably higher microplastics were found in the seawater and sediment adjacent to the urban area. The abundances of microplastics in far coastal sediment were only slightly lower than that in the coastal sediment, indicating that microplastics are ready to transport and bury in open area sediment. Significant positive correlations between the microplastic abundance and population density and per capita gross domestic product (GDP) were found in Chinese coastal seawater, with low population density and less developed economy, and the microplastic pollution in the Beibu Gulf was at a low level. This study provides preliminary data of microplastics in the Beibu Gulf, supporting further investigation of transportation fate and management of this emerging pollutant from the coastal zone to the SCS.

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Long-term trends of microplastics in seawater and farmed oysters in the Maowei Sea, China

Cited by 52 publications

References 51 publications

Tidal variation shaped microplastic enrichment patterns in mangrove blue carbon ecosystem of northern Beibu Gulf, China

Tidal variation shaped microplastic enrichment patterns in mangrove blue carbon ecosystem of northern Beibu Gulf, China

Microplastic prevalence in marine fish from onshore Beibu Gulf, South China Sea

Occurrence of Microplastic Pollution in the Beibu Gulf, the Northern South China Sea

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