Trace metals in polyethylene debris from the North Atlantic subtropical gyre

Prunier, Jonathan; Maurice, Laurence; Pérez, Emile; Gigault, Julien; Pierson-Wickmann, Anne-Catherine; Davranche, Mélanie; Halle, Alexandra ter

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2018.10.043

Cited by 137 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…The other main potential source of toxicants from weathered plastic are substances from the environment that adsorb to plastic debris whilst immersed in marine waters (Rochman, 2015), which may, under some set of conditions, later desorb. While the dynamics of adsorption and desorption relating to plastics are variable and generally not well understood (Ashton et al, 2010;Holmes et al, 2012Holmes et al, , 2014, it is thought that this process may be a potential source of metals in some marine ecosystems (Munier and Bendell, 2018;Prunier et al, 2019). Our elemental analysis showed that higher levels of Cr and Sr were leached from weathered HDPE than from unweathered material, while leached Mn was elevated in weathered PVC, with levels increasing as the weathering period extended, indicating these metals may have been adsorbed from the surrounding estuarine waters or sediments.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the Toxicity of Leachates From Weathered Plastics on Photosynthetic Marine Bacteria Prochlorococcus

et al. 2020

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Marine plastic pollution is a well-recognized, global problem. Research addressing plastic pollution has largely focused on investigating impacts on macroorganisms, with few studies investigating effects on marine microbes. We previously showed that marine Prochlorococcus, which are important contributors to oceanic primary production, suffer declines in growth and photosynthetic activity following exposure to leachates from new plastic bags (HDPE) and plastic matting (PVC). However, as such plastics reside in the environment they will be subject to weathering processes, so it is also important to consider how these may alter the composition and amounts of substances available to leach. Here we report on how plastic leachate toxicity is affected by environmental weathering (17-and 112-days in estuarine water) of these common plastic materials. We found that while toxicity was reduced by weathering, materials weathered for up to 112days continued to leach substances that negatively affected Prochlorococcus growth, photophysiology and membrane integrity. Weathered plastics were found to continue to leach zinc, even after up to 112-days in the environment. The two Prochlorococcus strains tested, NATL2A and MIT9312, showed differences in the sensitivity and timing of their responses, indicating that exposure to leachate from weathered plastics may affect even closely related strains to different degrees. As many marine regions inhabited by Prochlorococcus are likely to be subject to continued accumulation of plastic pollution, our findings highlight the potential for ongoing impacts on these important primary producers.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the Toxicity of Leachates From Weathered Plastics on Photosynthetic Marine Bacteria Prochlorococcus

et al. 2020

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“…Nevertheless, several studies demonstrated that both plastics pellets collected from beaches and micro-plastics recovered from seawater of the North Alantic gyre contain very variable amounts of trace metals (e.g. Holmes et al, 2012;Turner and Holmes, 2015;Vedolin et al, 2018;Prunier et al, 2019). This trace metal loading could result of the use of trace metals as additives in the plastics production and also in sorption processes (Massos and Turner, 2017;Wang et al, 2017;Prunier et al 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Holmes et al, 2012;Turner and Holmes, 2015;Vedolin et al, 2018;Prunier et al, 2019). This trace metal loading could result of the use of trace metals as additives in the plastics production and also in sorption processes (Massos and Turner, 2017;Wang et al, 2017;Prunier et al 2019). Wang et al (2017) suggested that the majority of metals carried by microplastics were derived from internal load.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are nanoplastics able to bind significant amount of metals? The lead example

Davranche

Veclin

Pierson-Wickmann

et al. 2019

Environmental Pollution

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139

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Main finding Nanoplastics are able to sorb high amount of Pb(II) through sorption and intraparticle diffusion processes. They could be important vector of metallic pollutant in the environment. Highlights • Pb(II) binding experiments onto nanoplastics extracted from environmental micro-plastics were performed. • Pb(II) was largely bound onto nanoplastics by specific adsorption and intraparticle diffusion.

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“…The use of As in the manufacture formulations is now limited [74]. The high arsenic levels in the plastic debris may also be attributed to the age of manufactured objects resulting from the mesoplastic process or absorption [75]. In this study, the Cu concentrations in PET and PC were the lowest, but the sublethal dosage of Cu may also cause a significant reduction in the marine microalgae Tetraselmis chuii [8].…”

Section: The Levels Of Trace Metals In the Petroleum-based Plasticsmentioning

confidence: 71%

Characterization of petroleum-based plastics and their absorbed trace metals from the sediments of the Marina Beach in Chennai, India

Suman

Alif

et al. 2020

Environ Sci Eur

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Background: Pollution by marine plastic debris becomes an increasing global concern. Characteristics of petroleumbased plastics pollution and its absorbed metals in Marina Beach, Chennai, in India are not reported yet. In this study, we first characterized the petroleum-based plastic debris and quantified the concentration of arsenic (As), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), and lead (Pb) in plastics from the Marina Beach. Results: A total of 2275 samples of the sediments were collected from three different locations across the Marina Beach. Our results showed that plastics debris mainly were three shapes as fiber, sphere, and fragment. The plastic fragments were mechanically eroded and chemically weathered observed by the scanning electron microscope (SEM). Five types of polymers were identified, including low-density polyethylene (LDPE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polypropylene (PP), polyamide (PA), and polycarbonate (PC). Their absorbed trace metals, such as Cr, As, Pb, and Cu, were determined by the inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The level of As was high in most plastics. However, the highest levels of Pb, Cu, and Cr were in the PA, PP, and PA, respectively, implying the adsorption preference of plastics from different sources. Conclusion: Taken together, this study first characterized petroleum-based plastics and their absorbed trace metals in the sediments of the Marina Beach, indicating that petroleum-based plastics acted as the vectors for the transportation of metal elements in the marine biome.

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Trace metals in polyethylene debris from the North Atlantic subtropical gyre

Cited by 137 publications

References 40 publications

Assessing the Toxicity of Leachates From Weathered Plastics on Photosynthetic Marine Bacteria Prochlorococcus

Assessing the Toxicity of Leachates From Weathered Plastics on Photosynthetic Marine Bacteria Prochlorococcus

Are nanoplastics able to bind significant amount of metals? The lead example

Characterization of petroleum-based plastics and their absorbed trace metals from the sediments of the Marina Beach in Chennai, India

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