Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China; Laboratory for Marine Ecology and Environmental Science, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao 266000, China.
Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China.
Sci Total Environ. 2018 Sep 15;636:20-29. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.04.182. Epub 2018 Apr 25.
Microplastics are emerging contaminants and have attracted widespread environmental concerns about their negative effects on the marine ecosystems. In this study, we investigated the abundances, distributions and characteristics of microplastics in surface seawater and sediments from the North Yellow Sea. The results showed that the abundance of microplastics was 545 ± 282 items/m in surface seawater and 37.1 ± 42.7 items/kg dry weight in sediments, representing a medium microplastic pollution level compared with other sea areas. Small microplastics (<1 mm) made up >70% of the total microplastic numbers. Films and fibers were the dominant shapes of microplastics in both the surface seawater and sediments. Transparent microplastics were generally more common than microplastics of other colors. Based on the identification by a Fourier transform infrared microscope, polyethylene (PE) was the dominant composition of microplastics in surface seawater, while polypropylene (PP) was the most common polymer type in sediments. These results will improve our understanding of the environmental risks posed by microplastics to marine ecosystems.
微塑料是新兴污染物，其对海洋生态系统的负面影响引起了广泛的环境关注。本研究调查了北黄海表层海水和沉积物中微塑料的丰度、分布和特征。结果表明，表层海水中微塑料的丰度为 545±282 个/ m，沉积物中为 37.1±42.7 个/ kg 干重，与其他海域相比，属于中等程度的微塑料污染水平。小粒径 (<1mm) 的微塑料占总数的>70%。薄膜和纤维是表层海水和沉积物中微塑料的主要形态。透明微塑料通常比其他颜色的微塑料更为常见。基于傅里叶变换红外显微镜的鉴定，聚乙烯（PE）是表层海水中微塑料的主要成分，而在沉积物中，聚丙烯（PP）是最常见的聚合物类型。这些结果将提高我们对微塑料对海洋生态系统造成的环境风险的认识。
