Nash Róisín, Joyce Haleigh, Pagter Elena, Frias João, Guinan Janine, Healy Louise, Kavanagh Fiona, Deegan Malcolm, O'Sullivan David
Marine and Freshwater Research Centre (MFRC), Atlantic Technological University, Galway (ATU, Galway), Old Dublin Road, Galway H91 T8NW, Ireland.
Marine Institute, Rinville, Oranmore, Co., Galway H91 R673, Ireland.
Environ Sci Technol. 2023 Jan 10;57(1):201-213. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.2c05926. Epub 2022 Dec 23.
Microplastics are ubiquitous emerging contaminants found in every habitat surveyed, building upon international databases globally. Costs and accessibility often correlate to few deep sea sediment surveys, restricting the number of stations within a given sampling area. An extensive survey of the Porcupine Seabight, Porcupine Bank, the Goban Spur, and south-western canyons resulted in identifying microplastics in deep sea sediment surface layers from 33 of the 44 stations sampled (75%), with a total of 83 particles (74 synthetic and 9 natural) recorded. No microplastic hotspots were identified, and abundances (kg d.w.) were not correlated with distance from land, depth, or the presence of macrolitter on the seafloor. Understanding the sources of deep sea microplastics, such as marine traffic, is crucial to developing effective mitigation strategies as well as further monitoring campaigns targeting microplastic pollution in areas with significant deep sea biodiversity such as the Porcupine Seabright.
微塑料是在全球范围内每个被调查的栖息地中都存在的新兴污染物，基于全球国际数据库。成本和可达性往往与深海沉积物调查较少相关，限制了给定采样区域内的站点数量。对豪猪海沟、豪猪滩、戈班海脊和西南峡谷进行的广泛调查，结果在44个采样站点中的33个（75%）的深海沉积物表层中识别出了微塑料，共记录到83个颗粒（74个合成颗粒和9个天然颗粒）。未识别出微塑料热点，且丰度（千克干重）与距陆地的距离、深度或海底大型垃圾的存在无关。了解深海微塑料的来源，如海上交通，对于制定有效的缓解策略以及针对豪猪海沟等具有重要深海生物多样性地区的微塑料污染的进一步监测活动至关重要。
