Journal
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
Volume 231, Issue -, Pages 541-548Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2017.08.058
Keywords
Microplastic; The Bohai Sea; Floating; Plastic
Categories
Funding
- Public Science and Technology Research Fund Projects of the Ocean, State Oceanic Administration of the People's Republic of China [201505034]
- National Key Research and Development Program [2016YFC1402201]
- Project Management Office
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The ubiquitous presence and persistency of microplastics in aquatic environments is of particular concern because these pollutants represent an increasing threat to marine organisms and ecosystems. An identification of the patterns of microplastic distribution will help to understand the scale of their potential effect on the environment and on organisms. In this study, the occurrence and distribution of microplastics in the Bohai Sea are reported for the first time. We sampled floating microplastics at 11 stations in the Bohai Sea using a 330 gm trawling net in August 2016. The abundance, composition, size, shape and color of collected debris samples were analyzed after pretreatment. The average microplastic concentration was 0.33 +/- 0.34 particles/m(3). Micro-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis showed that the main types of microplastics were polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene. As the size of the plastics decreased, the percentage of polypropylene increased, whereas the percentages of polyethylene and polystyrene decreased. Plastic fragments, lines, and films accounted for most of the collected samples. Accumulation at some stations could be associated with transport and retention mechanisms that are linked to wind and the dynamics of the rim current, as well as different sources of the plastics. (c) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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