Jung Jae-Woong, Park June-Woo, Eo Soeun, Choi Jinsoo, Song Young Kyoung, Cho Youna, Hong Sang Hee, Shim Won Joon
Environmental Risk Assessment Research Division, Korea Institute of Toxicology, Jinju 52834, Republic of Korea; Center for Defense Acquisition and Requirements Analysis, Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, Seoul 02455, Republic of Korea.
Environmental Risk Assessment Research Division, Korea Institute of Toxicology, Jinju 52834, Republic of Korea; Human and Environmental Toxicology Program, University of Science and Technology, Daejeon 34113, South Korea.
Environ Pollut. 2021 Feb 1;270:116217. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2020.116217. Epub 2020 Dec 2.
This study assessed the ecological risk posed by microplastics in surface and subsurface seawaters in coastal, continental shelf, and deep-sea areas of South Korea. The target microplastics for risk assessment were specified as only non-spherical type microplastics in the size range 20-300 μm, because this type was predominantly observed in our study areas, and adverse biological effects have previously been reported. Exposure data for non-spherical microplastics were obtained from a previous study or were measured for microplastics of sizes down to 20 μm. A predicted no-effect concentration (PNEC) of 12 particles/L was derived by employing a species sensitivity distribution approach. Then the results were compared to the in situ observed concentrations at each site. The detected microplastic concentrations did not exceed the derived PNEC, i.e., the current pollution levels of fragment and fiber microplastics in the size range 20-300 μm would not pose a significant threat to the marine ecosystem in South Korea. However, predictions are that microplastic pollution will increase to 50-fold by 2100 at the current rates, and in this scenario, the microplastic concentration is expected to far exceed the derived PNEC values for marine ecosystems. It is therefore urgent to take precautionary actions to prevent a further increase in microplastic concentrations in these environments.
本研究评估了韩国沿海、大陆架和深海区域表层及次表层海水中微塑料所构成的生态风险。风险评估的目标微塑料被明确为尺寸范围在20至300微米的非球形微塑料，因为在我们的研究区域中主要观察到的是这种类型，并且此前已有关于其不利生物效应的报道。非球形微塑料的暴露数据来自先前的一项研究，或者是针对尺寸低至20微米的微塑料进行测量所得。通过采用物种敏感性分布方法得出预测无效应浓度（PNEC）为每升12个颗粒。然后将结果与每个站点的现场观测浓度进行比较。检测到的微塑料浓度未超过推导得出的PNEC，即尺寸范围在20至300微米的碎片和纤维微塑料的当前污染水平不会对韩国的海洋生态系统构成重大威胁。然而，预测显示按照当前速率到2100年微塑料污染将增加至50倍，在这种情况下，微塑料浓度预计将远远超过推导得出的海洋生态系统PNEC值。因此，迫切需要采取预防行动以防止这些环境中微塑料浓度进一步增加。
