Sources and fate of microplastics in marine and beach sediments of the Southern Baltic Sea—a preliminary study

Abstract

Microplastics’ (particles size ≤5 mm) sources and fate in marine bottom and beach sediments of the brackish are strongly polluted Baltic Sea have been investigated. Microplastics were extracted using sodium chloride (1.2 g cm−3). Their qualitative identification was conducted using micro-Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (μFT-IR). Concentration of microplastics varied from 25 particles kg−1 d.w. at the open sea beach to 53 particles kg−1 d.w. at beaches of strongly urbanized bay. In bottom sediments, microplastics concentration was visibly lower compared to beach sediments (0–27 particles kg−1 d.w.) and decreased from the shore to the open, deep-sea regions. The most frequent microplastics dimensions ranged from 0.1 to 2.0 mm, and transparent fibers were predominant. Polyester, which is a popular fabrics component, was the most common type of microplastic in both marine bottom (50%) and beach sediments (27%). Additionally, poly(vinyl acetate) used in shipbuilding as well as poly(ethylene-propylene) used for packaging were numerous in marine bottom (25% of all polymers) and beach sediments (18% of all polymers). Polymer density seems to be an important factor influencing microplastics circulation. Low density plastic debris probably recirculates between beach sediments and seawater in a greater extent than higher density debris. Therefore, their deposition is potentially limited and physical degradation is favored. Consequently, low density microplastics concentration may be underestimated using current methods due to too small size of the debris. This influences also the findings of qualitative research of microplastics which provide the basis for conclusions about the sources of microplastics in the marine environment.

The occurrence of microplastics in freshwater systems – preliminary results from Krakow (Poland)

“…We decided on such a methodology because it is possible to analyse the entire sample and there is less risk of losing the microplastics sought in the whole process. Density separation (Hidalgo--Ruz et al 2012, Wagner et al 2014, Dris et al 2015b, Bogusz & Oleszczuk 2016, Frère et al 2017, Graca et al 2017, Pagter et al 2018 was not performed because it is only recommended for light polymers (Rezania et al 2018).…”

“…Despite the fact that the upper limit of size is considered as 5 mm in a large number of publications (e.g. Faure et al 2012, Free et al 2014, Wagner et al 2014, Davis & Murphy 2015, Dris et al 2015a, 2015b, Graca et al 2017, Manalu et al 2017, Mrowiec 2017, Li et al 2018, Sighicelli et al 2018, Westphalen & Abdelrasoul 2018, some scientists also distinguish a division into macroplastics, i.e. particles larger than 5 mm (Faure et al 2012).…”

“…There are only a few publications about microplastics and research refers to the problem of microplastics in the marine environment. The authors focus especially on its presence in seawater, bottom and coast sediments (Graca et al 2017), and the threat it poses for marine fauna, due to the sorption of pollution on its surface (Jastrzębska & Jurczak 2012, Bogusz & Cejner 2015, Bogusz & Oleszczuk 2016, Fleituch 2016, Heimowska 2016, Mrowiec 2017. During the research cruise, AREX 2017 Dąbrowska from the University of Warsaw conducted pilot studies on the presence of microplastics in the arctic marine environment (Sprawozdanie).…”

Occurrence and recovery of small-sized plastic debris from a Brazilian beach: characterization, recycling, and mechanical analysis

“…Therefore, besides direct harm to the ecosystem's environment, the presence of polymeric debris also leads to an impact on the economic and social spheres. In addition, besides cleaning the area, it is necessary to prevent newer debris from coming by the Atlantic (Costa et al 2010;Graca et al 2017). Hence, it is noteworthy that micro-mesoand macroplastic pollution on marine environments demands for both prevention and mitigation measures, embracing local, national, and global instances.…”

“…Therefore, recent studies have also been investigating this issue with aims to standardize methods for macro-and microplastics extraction in locations such as sediment (Van Cauwenberghe et al 2015;Besley et al 2017), and fresh and seawater (EerkesMedrano et al 2015;Horton et al 2017), as well as characterizing and analyzing their distribution (Graca et al 2017;Mai et al 2018). In addition, the characteristics of polymeric chemical bonds that confer plastics their interesting manufacturing properties also make them susceptible to degradation, consequently losing their mechanical properties (Crawford and Quinn 2017b).…”