Micro- and nanoplastic in the aquatic environment : from rivers to whales

Abstract

Chapter 6. The effect of microplastic on the uptake of chemicals by the lugworm Arenicola marina (L.

Quantifying ecological risks of aquatic micro- and nanoplastic

“…Recently, the first report of nanosized polymers occurring in ocean surface samples has been provided (Ter Halle et al, 2017). Amongst others, this study shows that pyrolysis GC-MS can be used to identify low concentrations of polymers in an environmental matrix (Besseling, 2018;Fischer & Scholz-B€ ottcher, 2017;Ter Halle et al, 2017;Mintenig, B€ auerlein, Koelmans, Dekker, & van Wezel, 2018), whereas UV-VIS spectroscopy and field flow fractionation (FFF) are other techniques under development which might be promising in this respect Mintenig et al, 2018). Since no technique is so far able to detect nanoplastic number concentrations in environmental samples, it is not possible to provide actual measured environmental exposure concentrations for it.…”

“…However, the degradation of macroplastic that is already present in the environment and the ongoing disposal of new macroplastic by our consumer society might lead to new, higher, levels of microplastic pollution, with consequences for species and possible renewed political and scientific attention. Further development of SSDs (Koelmans, Besseling, et al, 2017) based on additional and higher quality effect threshold data and standardized testing methods (Besseling, 2018;Redondo Hasselerharm et al, 2018) will further improve insight in the risk of exposure to plastic. Separating the risk of particle effects from that of chemical transfer effects, and considering the latter within a more complete environmental setting including all relevant chemical transfer pathways, will help to assess the overall risk of exposure to plastic (EPA, 2016b; Koelmans, Besseling, et al, 2017).…”

“…Although high microplastic concentrations have been found along European river deltas (Table 1), little is known about their spatial distribution in terms of concentrations, hotspots and characteristics such as shape or size. Here, as a case study for an area with little published concentration data, we summarize such data for microplastic in freshwater, estuarine and marine sediment and surface water locations of the main river delta in The Netherlands (Besseling, 2018;Besseling, Foekema, De Hoon, et al, 2015;Foekema, Hoornsman, Sonneveld, & Arenoe, 2015), as provided by and Leslie, Brandsma, Van Velzen, and Vethaak (2017). For sediment, the highest concentration was 56.3 particles/kg dry weight (DW), with highest concentrations in the freshwater part of the delta, moderate in the estuarine part and lowest in de marine part (Besseling, Foekema, De Hoon, et al, 2015).…”

“…This corresponds with global findings, as presented above, suggesting that: (a) many diffuse sources contribute to microplastic pollution (Kooi, Besseling, Kroeze, Wezel, & Koelmans, 2017); Table 2. Microplastic concentrations in freshwater in the Dutch delta (Besseling, 2018). For samples in which no particles were found, the < sign indicates a detection limit (DL).…”

NatuurBalans Noordzee: voorbeeld uitwerking van een Noordzee bijdrage aan de balans van de leefomgeving

“…De kennisopgave heeft betrekking op rivierafval, microplastics en de effecten op het mariene ecosysteem. Er is steeds meer bekend over de bronnen van (micro)plastics en over de aanwezigheid en effecten van (micro)plastics in zee (Besseling, 2018;Deltares, 2013;GESAMP, 2015;Leslie et al, 2017). Rivieren zijn een grote bron van zwerfvuil.…”