期刊
MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN
卷 163, 期 -, 页码 -出版社
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111938
关键词
Microplastics; Corals; Rayon; Mesoamerican Barrier Reef
资金
- Office for Undergraduate Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill through a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF)
- National Science Foundation [OCE 1459522]
- Rufford Foundation
- William W. and Ida W. Taylor Honors Fund, Honors Carolina at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
- Increasing Diversity and Enhancing Academia (IDEA) 2.0, Undergraduate Research Experience, Institute for the Environment at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
Ocean plastic pollution is a global issue causing ecosystem degradation, with microfiber abundance in coral samples showing spatial variation. Results indicate rayon as the most common microfiber pollutant, and potential for reducing rayon pollution in coastal waters through alterations to waste water infrastructure.
Ocean plastic pollution is a global problem that causes ecosystem degradation. Crucial knowledge gaps exist concerning patterns in micmfiber abundance across regions and ecosystems, as well as the role of these pollutants within the environment. Here, we quantified the abundance of microfibers in coral samples collected from the Belize Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System (MBRS) using a polarized light microscope and identified a subsample of these to the polymer level using an Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy microscope. Microfibers were found in all coral samples with rayon being identified as the most common microfiber, comprising 85% of quantified pollutants. We found a greater average abundance of microfibers in coral samples from the Sapodilla Cayes (296 +/- SE 89) than in samples from the Drowned Cayes (75 +/- SE 14), indicating spatial variation in microfiber abundance within coral tissue along the MBRS. These results demonstrate that corals on the Belize MBRS interact with microfibers and that microfiber abundance on reefs varies spatially due to point sources of pollution and local oceanography. As rayon from clothing typically enters the ocean through wastewater effluent, alterations to waste water infrastructure may prove useful in decreasing rayon pollution in coastal waters.
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