Microplastics in oysters Saccostrea cucullata along the Pearl River Estuary, China,

Environmental Pollution, Volume 236, May 2018, Pages 619-625, ISSN 0269-7491,

Abstract:
As a transitional zone between riverine and marine environments, an
estuary plays an important role for the sources, accumulation and
transport of microplastics. Although estuarine environments are hotspots
of microplastic pollution, the correlation between microplastic
pollution and aquatic organisms is less known.
Here we investigated microplastic pollution in wild oysters Saccostrea cucullata from 11
sampling sites along the Pearl River Estuary in South China. The microplastic abundances
in oysters ranged from 1.4 to 7.0 items per individual or from 1.5 to 7.2 items per gram tissue
wet weight, which were positively related to those in surrounding waters.
The oysters near urban areas contained significantly more microplastics than those near
rural areas. Fibers accounted for 69.4% of the total microplastics inoysters.
Microplastic sizes varied from 20 to 5000 μm and 83.9% of which
were less than 100 μm. Light color microplastics were significantly more
common than dark color ones. Based on the results, oysters are
recommended as a biomonitor for the microplastic pollution in estuaries.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1JjMjcv1J5E6nKnsEEYSkLDoSPbwQPYH6
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2018.01.083.
(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749117346882)

The post Microplastics in oysters Saccostrea cucullata along the Pearl River Estuary, China appeared first on One Earth - One Ocean e. V..

Microplastics in oysters Saccostrea cucullata along the Pearl River Estuary, China,

Environmental Pollution, Volume 236, May 2018, Pages 619-625, ISSN 0269-7491

Abstract:

As a transitional zone between riverine and marine environments, an estuary plays an important role for the sources, accumulation and transport of microplastics. Although estuarine environments are hotspots of microplastic pollution, the correlation between microplastic pollution and aquatic organisms is less known.

Here we investigated microplastic pollution in wild oysters Saccostrea cucullata from 11 sampling sites along the Pearl River Estuary in South China. The microplastic abundances in oysters ranged from 1.4 to 7.0 items per
individual or from 1.5 to 7.2 items per gram tissue wet weight, which were positively related to those in surrounding waters. The oysters near urban areas contained significantly more microplastics than those near rural areas. Fibers accounted for 69.4% of the total microplastics in oysters. Microplastic sizes varied from 20 to 5000 μm and 83.9% of which were less than 100 μm. Light color microplastics were significantly more common than dark color ones. Based on the results, oysters are recommended as a biomonitor for the microplastic pollution in estuaries.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1JjMjcv1J5E6nKnsEEYSkLDoSPbwQPYH6
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2018.01.083.(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749117346882)

The post Microplastics in oysters Saccostrea cucullata along the Pearl River Estuary, China appeared first on One Earth - One Ocean e. V..

Sorption behaviors of phenanthrene on the microplastics identified in a mariculture farm in Xiangshan Bay, southeastern China,

Science of The Total Environment,
Volumes 628–629,
2018,
Pages 1617-1626,
ISSN 0048-9697,

Abstract:

Recently, with the accumulation of evidence that microplastic can be ingested by a variety of marine organisms, microplastic sorption behaviors towards organic contaminants (OCs) have become the subject of more studies due to the concerns about the contaminant vector effect.
In this study, the priority microplastics identified in a mariculture farm in Xiangshan Bay, China, including polyethylene (PE) and nylon fibers (i.e., derived from new fishing ropes and nets), were examined for their
sorption behaviors. The results indicate that both plastic fibers show linear isotherms towards phenanthrene, a common target hydrophobic organic contaminant (HOC), revealing the characteristics of a partitioning mechanism. The sorption capacity of PE fiber was found to be 1–2 orders of magnitude higher (evaluated by Freundlich parameter log KF) than that of nylon fiber, suggesting the importance of plastic surface functional groups (i.e., with or without hydrophilic groups). By comparing carbon normalized log KF with literature data, the organic affinity of PE fiber was found to be 1–2 orders of magnitude lower than that of vectors, such as carbonaceous geosorbents (CG), but was 1–2 orders of magnitude higher than that of marine sediments. Small size and rough surface tended to enhance the sorption of plastic fibers of phenanthrene. In addition, phenol (log KOW: 1.46), a low-hydrophobicity
compound, showed approximately 3 orders of magnitude lower sorption amounts onto both fibers compared to phenanthrene (log KOW: 4.46), indicating the selectivity of hydrophobicity. The results of this study demonstrate that the high abundance of plastic fibers distributed in mariculture farms could lead to a higher contaminant transfer effect than marine sediments, and their effects on cultured seafood (e.g., crab and fish) need further investigation.
Keywords: Marine debris; Plastic; Fiber; PAHs; Uptake; Seafood

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1_-3VZFrGlVvqE3595xBJX_OXAc2WfhEh
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.02.146.(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969718305370)

The post Sorption behaviors of phenanthrene on the microplastics identified in a mariculture farm in Xiangshan Bay, southeastern China appeared first on One Earth - One Ocean e. V..