Marine Sciences and Applied Biology Department, University of Alicante, PO Box 99, E-03080, Alicante, Spain.
Analytical Chemistry, Nutrition & Food Sciences Department, University of Alicante, PO Box 99, E-03080, Alicante, Spain.
Environ Pollut. 2020 Feb;257:113336. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2019.113336. Epub 2019 Oct 16.
In this study, we assessed plastic accumulation in marine sediments due to finfish aquaculture using floating net-pens. We studied plastic concentrations around three fish farms located at the Mediterranean coastline of Spain. The macroplastic categories and abundances were determined by video monitoring, detecting the majority of elements (78%), including ropes, nets and fibres, a basket trap and a cable tie, close to the facilities, which were not exclusively linked to fish farming but also to fishing activities. Concentrations of microplastics (<5 mm) ranged from 0 to 213 particles/kg dry weight sediment with higher values in sites directly under the influence of the fish farms. Most particles (27.8%) were within the size fraction from 1.1 to 2.0 mm and fibre was the most common shape with 62.2%. The Infrared spectroscopy analysis showed that PE and PP were the predominant types of polymers analysed. In addition, changes in the enthalpy of melting (ΔH (J/g)) and the degree of crystallinity indicate degradation of the microplastics analysed. This study shows that, in the studied fish farms, levels of microplastic pollution can be one order of magnitude lower compared to other areas suffering other anthropogenic pressures from the same or similar regions. Nevertheless, more research effort is needed to get concluding results.
在这项研究中，我们评估了使用浮动网箱进行鱼类养殖对海洋沉积物中塑料积累的影响。我们研究了位于西班牙地中海海岸线的三个鱼类养殖场周围的塑料浓度。通过视频监测确定了宏观塑料的类别和丰度，发现了大部分元素（78%），包括绳索、网和纤维、一个篮子陷阱和一个电缆扎带，这些元素靠近养殖场，但不仅与鱼类养殖有关，还与渔业活动有关。微塑料（<5mm）的浓度范围为 0 至 213 个颗粒/千克干重沉积物，受养殖场直接影响的地点的浓度较高。大多数颗粒（27.8%）在 1.1 至 2.0mm 的粒径范围内，纤维是最常见的形状，占 62.2%。红外光谱分析表明，PE 和 PP 是分析的聚合物的主要类型。此外，熔融焓（ΔH（J/g））和结晶度的变化表明分析的微塑料发生了降解。这项研究表明，在所研究的鱼类养殖场中，微塑料污染的水平可以比其他受到相同或类似地区其他人为压力影响的地区低一个数量级。然而，仍需要更多的研究努力来得出结论。
