Spatial distribution of microplastics in sediments and surface waters of the southern North Sea

Claudia Lorenz; Lisa Roscher; Melanie S. Meyer; Lars Hildebrandt; J. Prume; Martin G.J. Löder; Sebastian Primpke; Gunnar Gerdts

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2019.06.093

Spatial distribution of microplastics in sediments and surface waters of the southern North Sea

Claudia Lorenz^*, Lisa Roscher, Melanie S. Meyer, Lars Hildebrandt, J. Prume, Martin G.J. Löder, Sebastian Primpke, Gunnar Gerdts

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

177 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Microplastic pollution within the marine environment is of pressing concern globally. Accordingly, spatial monitoring of microplastic concentrations, composition and size distribution may help to identify sources and entry pathways, and hence allow initiating focused mitigation. Spatial distribution patterns of microplastics were investigated in two compartments of the southern North Sea by collecting sublittoral sediment and surface water samples from 24 stations. Large microplastics (500−5000 μm) were detected visually and identified using attenuated total reflection (ATR) Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The remaining sample was digested enzymatically, concentrated onto filters and analyzed for small microplastics (11−500 μm) using Focal Plane Array (FPA) FTIR imaging. Microplastics were detected in all samples with concentrations ranging between 2.8 and 1188.8 particles kg⁻¹ for sediments and 0.1–245.4 particles m⁻³ for surface waters. On average 98% of microplastics were <100 μm in sediments and 86% in surface waters. The most prevalent polymer types in both compartments were polypropylene, acrylates/polyurethane/varnish, and polyamide. However, polymer composition differed significantly between sediment and surface water samples as well as between the Frisian Islands and the English Channel sites. These results show that microplastics are not evenly distributed, in neither location nor size, which is illuminating regarding the development of monitoring protocols. Capsule: Microplastic concentrations and compositions differ significantly between environmental compartments. Geographic distribution patterns are revealed by a statistical approach. Microplastics <500 μm are more abundant and diverse than >500 μm ones, rendering the exclusive analysis of later ones insufficient for environmental risk assessment.

Original language	English
Journal	Environmental Pollution
Volume	252
Pages (from-to)	1719-1729
Number of pages	11
ISSN	0269-7491
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2019.06.093
Publication status	Published - Sept 2019
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We like to thank the crew of the research vessel Heincke for technical support and sampling. Further thanks go to the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU) for funding C. Lorenz with a Ph.D. scholarship. This work was also supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Project BASEMAN - Defining the baselines and standards for microplastics analyses in European waters; BMBF grant 03F0734A). Furthermore, we thank N. Mackay-Roberts for proof reading. We also would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions which improved the original manuscript.

Funding Information:
We like to thank the crew of the research vessel Heincke for technical support and sampling. Further thanks go to the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt ( DBU ) for funding C. Lorenz with a Ph.D. scholarship. This work was also supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Project BASEMAN - Defining the baselines and standards for microplastics analyses in European waters; BMBF grant 03F0734A ).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier Ltd

Keywords

Enzymatic sample treatment
FTIR imaging
Microplastic
Polymer diversity
Spatial distribution patterns

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Cite this

@article{707e8eed81224fbd8288151d0155f647,

title = "Spatial distribution of microplastics in sediments and surface waters of the southern North Sea",

abstract = "Microplastic pollution within the marine environment is of pressing concern globally. Accordingly, spatial monitoring of microplastic concentrations, composition and size distribution may help to identify sources and entry pathways, and hence allow initiating focused mitigation. Spatial distribution patterns of microplastics were investigated in two compartments of the southern North Sea by collecting sublittoral sediment and surface water samples from 24 stations. Large microplastics (500−5000 μm) were detected visually and identified using attenuated total reflection (ATR) Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The remaining sample was digested enzymatically, concentrated onto filters and analyzed for small microplastics (11−500 μm) using Focal Plane Array (FPA) FTIR imaging. Microplastics were detected in all samples with concentrations ranging between 2.8 and 1188.8 particles kg−1 for sediments and 0.1–245.4 particles m−3 for surface waters. On average 98% of microplastics were <100 μm in sediments and 86% in surface waters. The most prevalent polymer types in both compartments were polypropylene, acrylates/polyurethane/varnish, and polyamide. However, polymer composition differed significantly between sediment and surface water samples as well as between the Frisian Islands and the English Channel sites. These results show that microplastics are not evenly distributed, in neither location nor size, which is illuminating regarding the development of monitoring protocols. Capsule: Microplastic concentrations and compositions differ significantly between environmental compartments. Geographic distribution patterns are revealed by a statistical approach. Microplastics <500 μm are more abundant and diverse than >500 μm ones, rendering the exclusive analysis of later ones insufficient for environmental risk assessment.",

keywords = "Enzymatic sample treatment, FTIR imaging, Microplastic, Polymer diversity, Spatial distribution patterns",

author = "Claudia Lorenz and Lisa Roscher and Meyer, {Melanie S.} and Lars Hildebrandt and J. Prume and L{\"o}der, {Martin G.J.} and Sebastian Primpke and Gunnar Gerdts",

note = "Funding Information: We like to thank the crew of the research vessel Heincke for technical support and sampling. Further thanks go to the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU) for funding C. Lorenz with a Ph.D. scholarship. This work was also supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Project BASEMAN - Defining the baselines and standards for microplastics analyses in European waters; BMBF grant 03F0734A). Furthermore, we thank N. Mackay-Roberts for proof reading. We also would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions which improved the original manuscript. Funding Information: We like to thank the crew of the research vessel Heincke for technical support and sampling. Further thanks go to the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt ( DBU ) for funding C. Lorenz with a Ph.D. scholarship. This work was also supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Project BASEMAN - Defining the baselines and standards for microplastics analyses in European waters; BMBF grant 03F0734A ). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2019 Elsevier Ltd",

year = "2019",

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AU - Roscher, Lisa

AU - Meyer, Melanie S.

AU - Hildebrandt, Lars

AU - Prume, J.

AU - Löder, Martin G.J.

AU - Primpke, Sebastian

AU - Gerdts, Gunnar

N1 - Funding Information: We like to thank the crew of the research vessel Heincke for technical support and sampling. Further thanks go to the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU) for funding C. Lorenz with a Ph.D. scholarship. This work was also supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Project BASEMAN - Defining the baselines and standards for microplastics analyses in European waters; BMBF grant 03F0734A). Furthermore, we thank N. Mackay-Roberts for proof reading. We also would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions which improved the original manuscript. Funding Information: We like to thank the crew of the research vessel Heincke for technical support and sampling. Further thanks go to the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt ( DBU ) for funding C. Lorenz with a Ph.D. scholarship. This work was also supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Project BASEMAN - Defining the baselines and standards for microplastics analyses in European waters; BMBF grant 03F0734A ). Publisher Copyright: © 2019 Elsevier Ltd

PY - 2019/9

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N2 - Microplastic pollution within the marine environment is of pressing concern globally. Accordingly, spatial monitoring of microplastic concentrations, composition and size distribution may help to identify sources and entry pathways, and hence allow initiating focused mitigation. Spatial distribution patterns of microplastics were investigated in two compartments of the southern North Sea by collecting sublittoral sediment and surface water samples from 24 stations. Large microplastics (500−5000 μm) were detected visually and identified using attenuated total reflection (ATR) Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The remaining sample was digested enzymatically, concentrated onto filters and analyzed for small microplastics (11−500 μm) using Focal Plane Array (FPA) FTIR imaging. Microplastics were detected in all samples with concentrations ranging between 2.8 and 1188.8 particles kg−1 for sediments and 0.1–245.4 particles m−3 for surface waters. On average 98% of microplastics were <100 μm in sediments and 86% in surface waters. The most prevalent polymer types in both compartments were polypropylene, acrylates/polyurethane/varnish, and polyamide. However, polymer composition differed significantly between sediment and surface water samples as well as between the Frisian Islands and the English Channel sites. These results show that microplastics are not evenly distributed, in neither location nor size, which is illuminating regarding the development of monitoring protocols. Capsule: Microplastic concentrations and compositions differ significantly between environmental compartments. Geographic distribution patterns are revealed by a statistical approach. Microplastics <500 μm are more abundant and diverse than >500 μm ones, rendering the exclusive analysis of later ones insufficient for environmental risk assessment.

AB - Microplastic pollution within the marine environment is of pressing concern globally. Accordingly, spatial monitoring of microplastic concentrations, composition and size distribution may help to identify sources and entry pathways, and hence allow initiating focused mitigation. Spatial distribution patterns of microplastics were investigated in two compartments of the southern North Sea by collecting sublittoral sediment and surface water samples from 24 stations. Large microplastics (500−5000 μm) were detected visually and identified using attenuated total reflection (ATR) Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The remaining sample was digested enzymatically, concentrated onto filters and analyzed for small microplastics (11−500 μm) using Focal Plane Array (FPA) FTIR imaging. Microplastics were detected in all samples with concentrations ranging between 2.8 and 1188.8 particles kg−1 for sediments and 0.1–245.4 particles m−3 for surface waters. On average 98% of microplastics were <100 μm in sediments and 86% in surface waters. The most prevalent polymer types in both compartments were polypropylene, acrylates/polyurethane/varnish, and polyamide. However, polymer composition differed significantly between sediment and surface water samples as well as between the Frisian Islands and the English Channel sites. These results show that microplastics are not evenly distributed, in neither location nor size, which is illuminating regarding the development of monitoring protocols. Capsule: Microplastic concentrations and compositions differ significantly between environmental compartments. Geographic distribution patterns are revealed by a statistical approach. Microplastics <500 μm are more abundant and diverse than >500 μm ones, rendering the exclusive analysis of later ones insufficient for environmental risk assessment.

KW - Enzymatic sample treatment

KW - FTIR imaging

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KW - Polymer diversity

KW - Spatial distribution patterns

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SN - 0269-7491

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EP - 1729

JO - Environmental Pollution

JF - Environmental Pollution

ER -

Spatial distribution of microplastics in sediments and surface waters of the southern North Sea

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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