| Autor: |
Ter Halle A; Laboratoire des Interactions Moléculaires et Réactivité Chimique et Photochimique (IMRCP), UMR CNRS 5623, Université Paul Sabatier-UPS , Bâtiment 2R1, 3ème étage, 118, route de Narbonne, 31062 Toulouse Cedex 09, France., Jeanneau L; Laboratoire Géosciences Rennes, UMR6118 CNRS/Université de Rennes 1 , 263 Avenue Général Leclerc, 35000 Rennes, France., Martignac M; Laboratoire des Interactions Moléculaires et Réactivité Chimique et Photochimique (IMRCP), UMR CNRS 5623, Université Paul Sabatier-UPS , Bâtiment 2R1, 3ème étage, 118, route de Narbonne, 31062 Toulouse Cedex 09, France., Jardé E; Laboratoire Géosciences Rennes, UMR6118 CNRS/Université de Rennes 1 , 263 Avenue Général Leclerc, 35000 Rennes, France., Pedrono B; Cordouan Technologies , 11 avenue de Canterrane, 33600 Pessac, France., Brach L; Laboratoire des Interactions Moléculaires et Réactivité Chimique et Photochimique (IMRCP), UMR CNRS 5623, Université Paul Sabatier-UPS , Bâtiment 2R1, 3ème étage, 118, route de Narbonne, 31062 Toulouse Cedex 09, France., Gigault J; Laboratoire Géosciences Rennes, UMR6118 CNRS/Université de Rennes 1 , 263 Avenue Général Leclerc, 35000 Rennes, France. |
| Abstrakt: |
Plastics can be found in all ecosystems across the globe. This type of environmental pollution is important, even if its impact is not fully understood. The presence of small plastic particles at the micro- and nanoscales is of growing concern, but nanoplastic has not yet been observed in natural samples. In this study, we examined four size fractions (meso-, large micro-, small micro-, and nanoplastics) of debris collected in the North Atlantic subtropical gyre. To obtain the nanoplastic portion, we isolated the colloidal fraction of seawater. After ultrafiltration, the occurrence of nanoscale particles was demonstrated using dynamic light scattering experiments. The chemical fingerprint of the colloids was obtained by pyrolysis coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. We demonstrated that the signal was anthropogenic and attributed to a combination of plastics. The polymer composition varied among the size classes. At the micro- and nanoscales, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene terephthalate, polystyrene and polyethylene were observed. We also observed changes in the pyrolytic signals of polyethylene with decreasing debris size, which could be related to the structural modification of this plastic as a consequence of weathering. |
