Low prevalence of microplastic contamination in the bottom sediments and deep-sea waters of the Bransfield strait, Antarctica.

Autor: De-la-Torre GE; Grupo de Investigación de Biodiversidad, Medio Ambiente y Sociedad, Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola, Lima, Peru. Electronic address: gabriel.delatorre@usil.pe., Forero López AD; Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía (IADO), CONICET/UNS, CCT-Bahía Blanca, Camino La Carrindanga, km 7.5, Edificio E1, B8000FWB, Bahía Blanca, Buenos Aires, Argentina., Colombo CV; Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía (IADO), CONICET/UNS, CCT-Bahía Blanca, Camino La Carrindanga, km 7.5, Edificio E1, B8000FWB, Bahía Blanca, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Instituto de Investigaciones en Fisicoquímica de Córdoba (INFIQC), Departamento de Fisicoquímica, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Ciudad Universitaria, X5000HUA, Córdoba, Argentina., Rimondino GN; Instituto de Investigaciones en Fisicoquímica de Córdoba (INFIQC), Departamento de Fisicoquímica, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Ciudad Universitaria, X5000HUA, Córdoba, Argentina., Malanca FE; Instituto de Investigaciones en Fisicoquímica de Córdoba (INFIQC), Departamento de Fisicoquímica, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Ciudad Universitaria, X5000HUA, Córdoba, Argentina., Barahona M; Instituto Oceanográfico y Antártico de la Armada (INOCAR), Guayaquil, Ecuador., Santillán L; Grupo de Investigación de Biodiversidad, Medio Ambiente y Sociedad, Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola, Lima, Peru.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Chemosphere [Chemosphere] 2024 Sep; Vol. 364, pp. 143310. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Sep 10.
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.143310
Abstrakt: 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.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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