Assessment of microplastics derived from mariculture in Xiangshan Bay, China. (November 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Chen, Minglong; Jin, Meng; Tao, Peiran; Wang, Zheng; Xie, Weiping; Yu, Xubiao; Wang, Kan
• Is Part Of: Environmental pollution. Volume 242(2018)Part B
• Page Start: 1146
• Page End: 1156
• Publication Date: 2018-11
• Subjects: Marine debris -- Nearshore -- Coastal water -- Sediment -- Pollution; 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.2018.07.133
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0269-7491

Abstract

Abstract: Mariculture activities including enclosure, raft and cage cultures employ a variety of plastic gear such as fishing nets, buoyant material and net cages. The plastic gear poses a potential source of microplastics to the coastal environment, but relevant data on the impacts of mariculture are still limited. To this end, a semi-enclosed narrow bay (i.e., Xiangshan Bay, China) with a long-term mariculture history was investigated to assess how mariculture activities affect microplastics in seawater and sediment. The results indicated that mariculture-derived microplastics accounted for approximately 55.7% and 36.8% of the microplastics in seawater and sediment, respectively. The average microplastic abundances of seawater and sediment were 8.9 ± 4.7 (mean ± SD, n = 18) items/m 3 seawater and 1739 ± 2153 (n = 18) items/kg sediment, respectively. The types of mariculture-derived microplastics included polyethylene (PE) foam, PE nets, PE film, polypropylene (PP) rope, polystyrene (PS) foam and rubber. PE foam had the highest proportion (38.6%) in the seawater samples. High usage rates and the porous structure of PE foam led to the high abundance. The average microplastic sizes of seawater and sediment are 1.54 ± 1.53 mm and 1.33 ± 1.69 mm, respectively. The spatial variations in the abundance and size of microplastics implied that the mariculture-derived microplastics in Xiangshan Bay were transported along the Bay to the open sea. The results of this study indicate that mariculture activity can be a significant source of microplastics. Further research is required to investigate how the high microplastic abundance in mariculture zone affects marine organisms, especially cultured seafood. Graphical abstract: Image 1 Highlights: The surface seawater of Xiangshan Bay had 8.9 ± 4.7 (n = 18) microplastics per m 3 seawater. The sediments of Xiangshan Bay had 1739 ± 2153 (n = 18) microplastics per kg sediment. Approximately 55.7% and 36.8% of the seawater and sediment microplastics were from mariculture, respectively. The porous structure of PE foam led to high fragmentation. Mariculture-derived microplastics in Xiangshan Bay were transported to the open sea. Abstract : Results of this work imply that the long-term intensive mariculture activities have caused a significant microplastic issue for Xiangshan Bay, China.