Journal
MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN
Volume 181, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.113869
Keywords
Microplastics; Ocean; Marine debris; Plastic pollution; Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy; Nova Scotia; Newfoundland and Labrador
Funding
- Environment and Climate Change Canada Atlantic Ecosystem Initiative (AEI) [GCXE18P019]
- Memorial University's Graduate Student Work Exchange Program
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Plastics are a common pollutant in the marine environment, and there is a lack of data on microplastics in the Atlantic Canada region. The study found that most of the plastics were microplastics, especially plastic fragments. Polyethylene and polypropylene were the main types of plastics. These findings have implications for future research and can inform environmental groups, government, and academia.
Plastics are a ubiquitous pollutant in the marine environment. Despite growing concerns, quantitative and qualitative data on microplastics in aquatic and marine environments of Atlantic Canada is just emerging. Surface water plastics were measured and categorized by morphology (thread, microfibre, fragment, foam, film, pellet, and microbead) in two locations in Nova Scotia and one in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. All sites within the three locations contained plastic with an average abundance of 9669 items/km(2). Most plastics (68 %) were sized as microplastics (0.425-5 mm), and plastic fragments were the most common morphological type. Polyethylene accounted for a third (30 %) of all particles found across all three locations, followed by polypropylene (23 %). Results can inform future research for community-based environmental groups, government, and academia.
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