Key Laboratory of Yangtze River Water Environment of the Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China.
International Joint Research Center for Sustainable Urban Water System, Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, Shanghai, 200092, China.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2022 Aug;29(37):56525-56534. doi: 10.1007/s11356-022-19826-3. Epub 2022 Mar 26.
Microplastic contamination is an emerging issue in the marine environment including the Arctic. However, the occurrence of microplastics in the Arctic fjords remains less understood. Sample collections were conducted by trawling horizontally in surface water (0-0.4-m depth) and trawling vertically in the water column (0-200-m depth) to investigate the abundance, composition, and distribution of microplastics in the Rijpfjorden, Northern Svalbard, in the summer of 2017. Laser Direct Infrared chemical imaging technique was applied for the counting and identification of microplastic particles. A total of 1010 microplastic particles and 14 mesoplastics were identified from 41,038 particles in eight samples from the Rijpfjorden. The abundance of microplastics larger than 300 µm was 0.15 ± 0.19 n/m in surface water, and 0.15 ± 0.03 n/m in the water column of the Rijpfjorden. The microplastic particles identified in Rijpfjorden water consisted of 10 types of polymers. The dominant microplastics are polyurethane, polyethylene, polyvinyl acetate, polystyrene, polypropylene, and alkyd varnish. Historical ship activities and newly melted sea ice might be major sources of microplastics in the seawater of Rijpfjorden. In general, contamination of microplastics larger than 300 µm in Rijpfjorden water is at a low level in comparison to other polar waters. Further research is needed to confirm the origin and fate of microplastics below 300 µm in Arctic fjords.
微塑料污染是海洋环境（包括北极地区）中一个新出现的问题。然而，北极峡湾中微塑料的存在情况仍了解较少。2017 年夏季，通过在水面（0-0.4 米深度）进行水平拖网和在水柱（0-200 米深度）进行垂直拖网，采集 Rijpfjorden（斯瓦尔巴群岛北部）的样本，以调查微塑料的丰度、组成和分布。采用激光直接红外化学成像技术对微塑料颗粒进行计数和识别。从 Rijpfjorden 的 8 个样本中的 41038 个颗粒中，共鉴定出 1010 个微塑料颗粒和 14 个中塑料。大于 300μm 的微塑料丰度在水面为 0.15±0.19 n/m，在 Rijpfjorden 水柱中为 0.15±0.03 n/m。Rijpfjorden 水中鉴定出的微塑料颗粒由 10 种聚合物组成。主要的微塑料是聚氨酯、聚乙烯、聚醋酸乙烯酯、聚苯乙烯、聚丙烯和醇酸清漆。历史上的船舶活动和新融化的海冰可能是 Rijpfjorden 海水中微塑料的主要来源。总体而言，与其他极地水域相比，Rijpfjorden 水中大于 300μm 的微塑料污染处于较低水平。需要进一步的研究来确认北极峡湾中小于 300μm 的微塑料的来源和命运。
