Grupo de Investigación de Biodiversidad, Medio Ambiente y Sociedad, Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola, Lima, Peru.
Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía (IADO), CONICET/UNS, CCT-Bahía Blanca, Camino La Carrindanga, km 7.5, Edificio E1, B8000FWB, Bahía Blanca, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Chemosphere. 2024 Sep;364:143310. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.143310. Epub 2024 Sep 10.
Despite the remoteness of the Antarctic continent and Southern Ocean, microplastic (MPs) contamination has been evidenced in recent years. However, the deep-sea compartments of the Southern Ocean are yet to be investigated. In the present study, we conducted a baseline MP assessment of the deep-sea waters and bottom sediments of the Bransfield Strait, Antarctica. A low abundance of suspected MPs was found. The average MP abundances in bottom sediments and water samples were 0.09 MP/g (range of 0-0.2 MP/g) and 7.00 MP/L (range of 0-16 MP/L), respectively. The majority of the particles were fibers identified as cellulose, although polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyacrylonitrile (PAN) was also detected. These results suggest low MP contamination levels in the Southern Ocean's deepest environmental compartments. However, future studies must aim to investigate the smallest MP fractions and, if possible, nanoplastic (<1 μm) contamination in these remote compartments.
尽管南极洲和南大洋偏远，但近年来已经有证据表明存在微塑料（MPs）污染。然而，南大洋深海区域仍有待调查。在本研究中，我们对南极洲布兰斯菲尔德海峡的深海水域和底泥进行了基线 MP 评估。发现了低含量的疑似 MPs。底泥和水样中的平均 MP 丰度分别为 0.09 MPs/g（范围为 0-0.2 MPs/g）和 7.00 MPs/L（范围为 0-16 MPs/L）。大多数颗粒被鉴定为纤维素纤维，尽管也检测到了聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯（PET）和聚丙烯腈（PAN）。这些结果表明，南大洋最深的环境区域中 MP 污染水平较低。然而，未来的研究必须旨在调查这些偏远区域中最小的 MP 分数，如果可能的话，还需要调查纳米塑料（<1μm）污染。
