Norwegian Polar Institute, Fram Centre, 9296 Tromsø, Norway; Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA), Fram Centre, 9296 Tromsø, Norway.
Norwegian Polar Institute, Fram Centre, 9296 Tromsø, Norway.
Mar Pollut Bull. 2023 Nov;196:115646. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115646. Epub 2023 Oct 11.
An increasing number of organisms from the polar regions are reported contaminated by plastic. Rarely a non-killing sampling method is used. In this study we wanted to assess plastic levels using stomach flushing and evaluate the method suitability for further research and monitoring. The stomach of 22 fulmars from Bjørnøya, Svalbard, were flushed with water in the field. On return to the laboratory, the regurgitated content was digested using potassium hydroxide. The extracted plastics were visually characterised and analysed with spectroscopy. Only three birds had plastics in their stomach, totaling 36 particles, most of them microplastics (< 5 mm). The plastic burdens are much lower than previously reported in Svalbard. The stomach flushing is assumed not to allow the collection of the gizzard content. This is a major limitation as most of the plastics accumulate in the fulmar's gizzard. However, the method is still useful for studies investigating plastic ingestion dynamics, allowing to sample the same individuals over time.
越来越多来自极地地区的生物被报道受到塑料污染。很少使用非致死性采样方法。在这项研究中，我们希望使用胃冲洗来评估塑料含量，并评估该方法是否适合进一步的研究和监测。在野外，用清水冲洗了 22 只来自斯瓦尔巴群岛比约克岛的管鼻藿的胃。回到实验室后，用氢氧化钾消化反刍物。提取的塑料进行了目视特征描述和光谱分析。只有三只鸟的胃里有塑料，总共 36 个颗粒，其中大部分是微塑料（<5 毫米）。塑料负荷远低于以前在斯瓦尔巴群岛的报道。胃冲洗法似乎无法收集砂囊内容物。这是一个主要的限制，因为大多数塑料都积聚在管鼻藿的砂囊中。然而，该方法对于研究塑料摄入动态仍然有用，允许对同一个体进行随时间的采样。
