Microplastics abundance and characteristics in surface waters from the Northwest Pacific, the Bering Sea, and the Chukchi Sea

Jingli Mu; Shoufeng Zhang; Ling Qu; Fei Jin; Chao Fang; Xindong Ma; Weiwei Zhang; Juying Wang

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.04.023

Microplastics abundance and characteristics in surface waters from the Northwest Pacific, the Bering Sea, and the Chukchi Sea

Mar Pollut Bull. 2019 Jun:143:58-65. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.04.023. Epub 2019 Apr 23.

Authors

Jingli Mu¹, Shoufeng Zhang², Ling Qu², Fei Jin², Chao Fang³, Xindong Ma², Weiwei Zhang², Juying Wang⁴

Affiliations

¹ National Marine Environmental Monitoring Center, No. 42, Linghe Street, Dalian 116023, China; Institute of Oceanography, Minjiang University, No. 200, Wenxian Road, Fuzhou 350108, China. Electronic address: jlmu@mju.edu.cn.
² National Marine Environmental Monitoring Center, No. 42, Linghe Street, Dalian 116023, China.
³ Laboratory of Marine Biology and Ecology, Third Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, No. 178, Daxue Road, Xiamen 361005, China.
⁴ National Marine Environmental Monitoring Center, No. 42, Linghe Street, Dalian 116023, China. Electronic address: jywang@nmemc.org.cn.

PMID: 31789166
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.04.023

Abstract

Microplastics (MPs) in the Arctic Ocean have gained considerable attention due to its ubiquity and impacts within ecosystems. However, little information is available on MPs in the Pacific section of the Arctic Ocean. The present study determined the abundance, distribution, and composition of MPs in surface waters from the Northwestern Pacific, the Bering Sea, and the Chukchi Sea. The MPs abundances varied from 0.018 items/m³ to 0.31 items/m³, with a mean abundance of 0.13 ± 0.11 items/m³. The highest level of MPs was found in the Chukchi Sea. Of all of the detected MPs, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) accounted for the largest proportion of MPs, and fiber was predominant with regard to the total amount. Our results highlighted that the Arctic Ocean is becoming a hotspot for plastic pollution, and the risks posed by MPs need to be paid closer attention in future investigations.

Keywords: Arctic Ocean; Chukchi Sea; Microplastics; Ocean circulation; Plastic debris.

MeSH terms

Arctic Regions
Ecosystem
Environmental Monitoring
Microplastics / analysis*
Microplastics / chemistry
Pacific Ocean
Polyethylene Terephthalates / analysis
Water Pollutants, Chemical / analysis*
Water Pollutants, Chemical / chemistry

Substances

Microplastics
Polyethylene Terephthalates
Water Pollutants, Chemical