Microplastics integrating the coastal planktonic community in the inner zone of the Río de la Plata estuary (South America)

Pazos, Rocío Soledad; Bauer, Delia Elena; Gómez, Nora

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2018.08.064

Cited by 99 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 60 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…While the presence of microplastics in estuaries has been documented (Gray et al, ; Pazos et al, ; Yonkos et al, ; Zhao et al, ), our understanding of their distributions and processes remains limited. However, it is likely that principles gleaned from studies of naturally occurring particulates of comparable densities are applicable, especially as microplastics weather and accumulate biofilms.…”

Section: Microplastics In Freshwatersmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Global Perspective on Microplastics

Hale¹,

Seeley²,

Guardia³

et al. 2020

JGR Oceans

667

270

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Society has become increasingly reliant on plastics since commercial production began in about 1950. Their versatility, stability, light weight, and low production costs have fueled global demand. Most plastics are initially used and discarded on land. Nonetheless, the amount of microplastics in some oceanic compartments is predicted to double by 2030. To solve this global problem, we must understand plastic composition, physical forms, uses, transport, and fragmentation into microplastics (and nanoplastics). Plastic debris/microplastics arise from land disposal, wastewater treatment, tire wear, paint failure, textile washing, and at-sea losses. Riverine and atmospheric transport, storm water, and disasters facilitate releases. In surface waters plastics/microplastics weather, biofoul, aggregate, and sink, are ingested by organisms and redistributed by currents. Ocean sediments are likely the ultimate destination. Plastics release additives, concentrate environmental contaminants, and serve as substrates for biofilms, including exotic and pathogenic species. Microplastic abundance increases as fragment size decreases, as does the proportion of organisms capable of ingesting them. Particles <20 μm may penetrate cell membranes, exacerbating risks. Exposure can compromise feeding, metabolic processes, reproduction, and behavior. But more investigation is required to draw definitive conclusions. Human ingestion of contaminated seafood and water is a concern. Microplastics indoors present yet uncharacterized risks, magnified by the time we spend inside (>90%) and the abundance of polymeric products therein. Scientific challenges include improving microplastic sampling and characterization approaches, understanding long-term behavior, additive bioavailability, and organismal and ecosystem health risks. Solutions include improving globally based pollution prevention, developing degradable polymers and additives, and reducing consumption/expanding plastic reuse.

show abstract

Section: Microplastics In Freshwatersmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Global Perspective on Microplastics

Hale¹,

Seeley²,

Guardia³

et al. 2020

JGR Oceans

667

270

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…(2005) Mangrove Creeks, Goiana Estuary 3.4 items 100 m −3 Lima et al. (2016) Río de la Plata Estuary 139 items 100 m −3 Pazos et al. (2018) West Coast-off Colombo, Sri Lanka 0.67 ± 0.14 mg/m 3 and140.34 ± 13.99 items/m 3 Athawuda et al.…”

Section: Effects Of Plastic Accumulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plastic pollution in the marine environment

Thushari

Senevirathna

2020

Heliyon

487

139

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Plastic pollution is recognized as a severe anthropogenic issue in the coastal and marine ecosystems across the world. Unprecedented and continuous accumulation of growing plastic contaminants into any respective aquatic ecosystem by the anthropogenic sources causes direct and/or indirect interruption to ecosystem structure, functions, and consequently, services and values. Land-based and sea-based sources are the primary sources of these contaminants in various modes that enter the ocean. In this review paper, we focused on highlighting different aspects related to plastic pollution in coastal and marine environments. Plastic pollutants are distributed in the ecosystems in different forms, with different size variations as megaplastic, macroplastic, mesoplastic, and microplastic. Microplastics in primary and secondary forms reveal a widespread distribution in the water, sediment, and biota of the marine and coastal habitats. The microplastic level of different coastal and marine ecosystems nearly ranged from 0.001-140 particles/m 3 in water and 0.2-8766 particles/m 3 in sediments at different aquatic environments over the world. The microplastic accumulation rate of coastal and marine organisms varied at 0.1-15,033 counts. Accordingly, plastic pollution creates several kinds of negative consequences combined with ecological and socio-economic effects. Entanglement, toxicological effects via ingestion of plastics, suffocation, starvation, dispersal, and rafting of organisms, provision of new habitats, and introduction of invasive species are significant ecological effects with growing threats to biodiversity and trophic relationships. Degradation (changes in the ecosystem state) and modifications of marine systems are associated with loss of ecosystem services and values. Consequently, this emerging contaminant affects the socio-economic aspects through negative impacts on tourism, fishery, shipping, and human health. Preventing accumulation sources of plastic pollutants, 3Rs (Reduce-Recycle-Reuse), awareness & capacity building, and producer/manufacturer responsibility are practical approaches toward addressing the issue of plastic pollution. Existing and adopted policies, legislations, regulations, and initiatives at global, regional, and national level play a vital role in reducing plastic debris in the marine and coastal zones. Development of proposals/solutions on key research gaps can open a novel pathway to address this environmental issue in an effective scientific manner. In conclusion, this paper demonstrates the current status of plastic pollution in the marine ecosystem to make aware people of a plastic-free, healthy blue ocean in the near future.

show abstract

“…The sampling technique may also have influenced the microplastics sampled, as previous studies in the open ocean found an effect of the SML sampling technique used on the abundance of various shapes of microplastic in the SML 29 . Numerous studies, however, have found a dominance of fibres in recovered plastics < 5 mm [35][36][37][38][39] .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Identification of tidal trapping of microplastics in a temperate salt marsh system using sea surface microlayer sampling

Stead

Cundy

Hudson

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Microplastics are contaminants of increasing global environmental concern. Estuaries are a major transport pathway for land-derived plastics to the open ocean but are relatively understudied compared to coastal and open marine environments. The role of the "estuarine filter", by which the supply of sediments and contaminants to the sea is moderated by processes including vegetative trapping and particle flocculation, remains poorly defined for microplastics land to sea transfer. Here, we focus on the sea surface microlayer (SML) as a vector for microplastics, and use SML sampling to assess microplastic trapping in a temperate marsh system in Southampton Water, UK. The SML is known to concentrate microplastics relative to the underlying water and is the first part of rising tidal waters to traverse intertidal and upper tidal surfaces. Sampling a salt marsh creek at high temporal resolution allowed assessment of microplastics in-wash and outflow from the salt marsh, and its relationship with tidal state and bulk suspended sediment concentrations (SSC), over spring and neap tides. A statistically significant decrease in microplastics abundance from the flood tide to the ebb tide was found, and a weak positive relationship with SSC observed. Microplastics are defined as "any synthetic solid particles or polymeric matrix, with regular or irregular shape and size, and with size ranging from 1 µm to 5 mm, of either primary or secondary manufacturing origin, which are insoluble in water" 1. They are of increasing environmental concern due to their ubiquitous presence in oceans 2 , rivers 3,4 , the atmosphere 5 and on land 6. Microplastics are also more abundant by quantity compared to larger meso-or macroplastic debris 2. It is currently estimated that 80% of marine plastic debris is derived from land-based anthropogenic sources 7 , although these estimates are highly uncertain 7. Between 1.15 and 2.47 million tonnes of plastic debris of any size larger than 300 µm is estimated to be transported by rivers 3. Due to this large plastic throughflow, estuaries are recognised as an important transport pathway from land to sea for microplastics 8. As well as these riverine inputs, estuaries are frequently sites of intense urbanisation and industrial development, and receive plastic inputs from these sources directly, including through discharges from storm drains and waste water treatment works 9. Estuaries are, however, relatively understudied compared to beach and open marine environments with respect to both macro-and micro-plastics 10,11 , despite their likely importance for microplastic land-sea transfer and their ecological importance. Estuarine habitats such as salt marshes and mudflats are also potentially more favourable for the deposition of microplastics over high-energy environments such as sandy beaches 12. While several estuaries worldwide have been sampled to determine the abundance of microplastics (e.g. 13-15), it is only recently that detailed studies of microplastics cycling and trapping in estuaries have be...

show abstract

Microplastics integrating the coastal planktonic community in the inner zone of the Río de la Plata estuary (South America)

Cited by 99 publications

References 60 publications

A Global Perspective on Microplastics

A Global Perspective on Microplastics

Plastic pollution in the marine environment

Identification of tidal trapping of microplastics in a temperate salt marsh system using sea surface microlayer sampling

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About