CAS Key Laboratory of Coastal Environmental Processes and Ecological Remediation, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 264003 Yantai, China; College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100049 Beijing, China; Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research, 18119 Rostock, Germany.
CAS Key Laboratory of Coastal Environmental Processes and Ecological Remediation, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 264003 Yantai, China.
Sci Total Environ. 2020 Feb 10;703:134807. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134807. Epub 2019 Oct 31.
Mangroves are a unique and important type of coastal wetlands in the tropical and subtropical zones worldwide. The abundance and spatial distribution of microplastics in the mangrove sediments however are still poorly understood. The present study aimed to illustrate the characteristics, abundance and spatial distribution of microplastics in different mangrove sediments along the south-eastern coastal zones of China. Microplastic samples (roughly 10-20 kg fresh sediments at each site) taken from 21 sampling sites showed various shapes, colors, composition, sizes, surface morphology, abundance and strong spatial heterogeneity. Five different shapes of microplastics with a variety of colors were detected in the mangrove sediments, among which foams (74.6%) and fibers (14.0%) were the dominant types. The polymer composition of the microplastics identified based on the FT-IR and μ-FTIR covered polystyrene (75.2%), polypropylene (11.7%), rayon (4.6%), polyester (3.4%), polyethylene (2.8%) and acrylic (2.4%). The observed microplastics with a size range of less than 2 mm made up 58.6% of the total microplastic particles. The microplastics had various surface morphologies, exhibiting complicated weathered surfaces. The abundance of microplastics showed a substantial variation among the sampling sites, ranging from 8.3 to 5738.3 items kg (dry sediment). Altogether, our study provides a better understanding of microplastic pollution status and prevention policy-making of mangrove habitats in China.
红树林是全球热带和亚热带地区独特而重要的沿海湿地类型。然而，红树林沉积物中微塑料的丰度和空间分布仍知之甚少。本研究旨在说明中国东南沿海地区不同红树林沉积物中微塑料的特征、丰度和空间分布。从 21 个采样点采集的微塑料样品（每个点约 10-20 公斤新鲜沉积物）表现出不同的形状、颜色、组成、大小、表面形态、丰度和强烈的空间异质性。在红树林沉积物中检测到五种不同形状和各种颜色的微塑料，其中泡沫（74.6%）和纤维（14.0%）是主要类型。根据傅里叶变换红外光谱（FT-IR）和微傅里叶变换红外光谱（μ-FTIR）识别的微塑料的聚合物组成包括聚苯乙烯（75.2%）、聚丙烯（11.7%）、人造丝（4.6%）、聚酯（3.4%）、聚乙烯（2.8%）和丙烯酸（2.4%）。观察到的尺寸小于 2 毫米的微塑料占总微塑料颗粒的 58.6%。微塑料具有各种表面形态，表现出复杂的风化表面。微塑料的丰度在采样点之间存在很大差异，范围从 8.3 到 5738.3 个项目公斤（干沉积物）。总之，我们的研究为了解中国红树林栖息地的微塑料污染状况和制定防治政策提供了更好的认识。
