Microplastic abundance, distribution and composition in the mid-west Pacific Ocean. (September 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wang, Sumin; Chen, Hongzhe; Zhou, Xiwu; Tian, Yongqing; Lin, Cai; Wang, Weili; Zhou, Kaiwen; Zhang, Yuanbiao; Lin, Hui
• Is Part Of: Environmental pollution. Volume 264(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-09
• Subjects: Microplastics -- Surface water -- Abundance -- Mid-west Pacific ocean; Pollution -- Periodicals; Pollution -- Environmental aspects -- Periodicals; Environmental Pollution -- Periodicals; Pollution -- Périodiques; Pollution -- Aspect de l'environnement -- Périodiques; Pollution -- Effets physiologiques -- Périodiques; Pollution; Pollution -- Environmental aspects; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 363.73
• DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2020.114125
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0269-7491

Abstract

Abstract: Microplastic pollution is widespread across most ocean basins around the world. Microplastics (MPs) are small plastic particles that have a significant impact on the marine environment. Various research on plastic pollution have been conducted in several regions. However, currently, there is limited data on the distribution and concentration of MPs in the mid-west Pacific Ocean. Therefore, this study we investigated the abundance, distribution, characteristics, and compositions of MPs in this region. Sea surface water samples collected from 18 stations showed a microplastic concentration range of 6028–95, 335 pieces/km 2 and a mean concentration of 34, 039 ± 25, 101 pieces/km 2 . Highest microplastic concentrations were observed in the seamount region of western Pacific. We observed a significant positive correlation between microplastic abundance and latitude across the study region. It was observed that microplastic concentrations decreased with increasing offshore distance at sites located on a 154° W transect. Fibres/filaments were the dominant microparticles observed in this study (57.4%), followed by fragments (18.3%). The dominant particle size range was 1–2.5 mm (35.1%), followed by 0.5–1 mm (28.5%), and the dominant particle colour was white (33.8%), followed by transparent (31.0%) and green (24.6%). The most common polymer identified by μ-Raman was polypropylene (39.1%), followed by polymethyl methacrylate (16.2%), polyethylene (14.1%) and polyethylene terephthalate (14.2%). The possible sources and pathways of microplastics in the study area were proposed based on the morphological and compositional characteristics of particles, their spatial distribution patterns, and shipboard current profiling (ADCP). Our study contributes to the further understanding of MPs in remote ocean areas. Graphical abstract: Image 1 Highlights: Microplastic pollution is abundant and widespread in the mid-west Pacific Ocean. Microplastics were predominantly white fibres at sizes of 1–2.5 mm. PP was the major polymer type in surface water. Two transport pathways are proposed based on Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler data. Abstract : This paper reports on microplastic pollution in the mid-west Pacific Ocean, including the abundance and distribution of microplastics and their potential sources and pathways.