D'Angelo Alessandra, Trenholm Nicole, Loose Brice, Glastra Laura, Strock Jacob, Kim Jongsun
Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Narragansett, RI 02882, USA.
Center for Environmental Science, University of Maryland, Cambridge, MD 21613, USA.
Toxics. 2023 Sep 20;11(9):792. doi: 10.3390/toxics11090792.
Microplastic pollution has emerged as a global environmental concern, exhibiting wide distribution within marine ecosystems, including the Arctic Ocean. Limited Arctic microplastic data exist from beached plastics, seabed sediments, floating plastics, and sea ice. However, no studies have examined microplastics in the sea ice of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and Tallurutiup Imanga National Marine Conservation Area, and few have explored Arctic marginal seas' water column. The majority of the microplastic data originates from the Eurasian Arctic, with limited data available from other regions of the Arctic Ocean. This study presents data from two distinct campaigns in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and Western Arctic marginal seas in 2019 and 2020. These campaigns involved sampling from different regions and matrices, making direct comparisons inappropriate. The study's primary objective is to provide insights into the spatial and vertical distribution of microplastics. The results reveal elevated microplastic concentrations within the upper 50 m of the water column and significant accumulation in the sea ice, providing evidence to support the designation of sea ice as a microplastic sink. Surface seawater exhibits a gradient of microplastic counts, decreasing from the Chukchi Sea towards the Beaufort Sea. Polyvinyl chloride polymer (~60%) dominated microplastic composition in both sea ice and seawater. This study highlights the need for further investigations in this region to enhance our understanding of microplastic sources, distribution, and transport.
微塑料污染已成为一个全球环境问题，在包括北冰洋在内的海洋生态系统中广泛分布。目前关于北极微塑料的数据有限，主要来自海滩塑料、海底沉积物、漂浮塑料和海冰。然而，尚无研究对加拿大北极群岛和塔鲁鲁蒂普伊曼加国家海洋保护区海冰中的微塑料进行检测，对北极边缘海水柱的研究也很少。大部分微塑料数据来自欧亚北极地区，北冰洋其他地区的数据有限。本研究展示了2019年和2020年在加拿大北极群岛和北极西部边缘海域进行的两次不同调查的数据。这些调查涉及从不同区域和基质采样，因此不适合直接比较。该研究的主要目的是深入了解微塑料的空间和垂直分布。结果显示，水柱上部50米内微塑料浓度升高，海冰中有大量积累，这为将海冰指定为微塑料汇提供了证据。表层海水的微塑料数量呈现出梯度变化，从楚科奇海向波弗特海逐渐减少。聚氯乙烯聚合物（约60%）在海冰和海水中的微塑料组成中占主导地位。这项研究强调了在该地区进行进一步调查的必要性，以增进我们对微塑料来源、分布和运输的理解。
