Department of Ocean, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23529, USA.
Department of Ocean, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23529, USA.
Mar Pollut Bull. 2020 Feb;151:110869. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.110869. Epub 2020 Jan 29.
Microplastic particles (<5 mm) constitute a growing pollution problem within coastal environments. This study investigated the microplastic presence of estuarine and barrier island beaches in the states of Virginia and North Carolina, USA. Seventeen sediment cores were collected at four study sites and initially tested for microplastic presence by pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. For the extraction, microplastic particles were first separated from the sediment using a high-density cesium chloride solution (1.88 g/mL). In a second step, an oil extraction collected the remaining microplastic particles of higher densities. Under the light microscope, the extracted microplastic particles were classified based on their morphologies into fragments and fibers. Raman microspectroscopy chemically identified a subset of microplastic particles as polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate, poly(4-vinylbiphenyl), polystyrene, polyethylene, and nylon. The results show a concentration of microplastic particles (1410 ± 810 per kg of dry sediment) even in protected and ostensibly unpolluted estuarine and beach sediments of Virginia and North Carolina.
微塑料颗粒（<5 毫米）在沿海环境中构成了一个日益严重的污染问题。本研究调查了美国弗吉尼亚州和北卡罗来纳州的河口和障壁岛海滩的微塑料存在情况。在四个研究地点采集了 17 个沉积物岩芯，并最初通过热裂解-气相色谱-质谱法测试了微塑料的存在情况。为了提取，首先使用高密度的氯化铯溶液（1.88 g/mL）将微塑料颗粒从沉积物中分离出来。在第二步中，油提取收集了密度更高的剩余微塑料颗粒。在光学显微镜下，根据形态将提取的微塑料颗粒分为碎片和纤维。拉曼微光谱技术对一小部分微塑料颗粒进行了化学鉴定，确定它们为聚丙烯、聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯、聚（4-乙烯基联苯）、聚苯乙烯、聚乙烯和尼龙。结果表明，即使在弗吉尼亚州和北卡罗来纳州受保护的、表面上无污染的河口和海滩沉积物中，也存在微塑料颗粒（每公斤干沉积物 1410±810 个）。
