Abundance, distribution and characteristics of microplastics in the North and South Atlantic Ocean

Regitze Andersen; Astrid Louise Harsaae; Antonia Kellner; Abigail Smyth; Tia Amalie Rosenkrantz Westermann; Mattias Green; Jes Vollertsen; Kristian Syberg; Claudia Lorenz

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.117217

Abundance, distribution and characteristics of microplastics in the North and South Atlantic Ocean

Regitze Andersen^*, Astrid Louise Harsaae, Antonia Kellner, Abigail Smyth, Tia Amalie Rosenkrantz Westermann, Mattias Green, Jes Vollertsen, Kristian Syberg, Claudia Lorenz

^*Corresponding author af dette arbejde

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › peer review

5 Citationer (Scopus)

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Abstract

Microplastics are both pervasive in the marine environment and highly detrimental to it. In this study, we investigate the abundance, distribution, and characteristics of microplastics in surface waters on a transect spanning 6 major ocean current regions in the Atlantic Ocean from Scheveningen (the Netherlands) to Montevideo (Uruguay). 50 surface trawls were completed with a manta net (mesh 500 μm, cod 333 μm) and particles were analyzed in the laboratory including polymer type identification with ATR-FTIR spectroscopy. An overall abundance of 0.011 ± 0.017 items/m³ was found with a significant correlation between microplastic abundance and distance to coast. The dominant polymer types were HD-PE (63.5 %) and PP (28.3 %), shape was fragments (88.6 %), and color was white (59.1 %). We conclude that this study's findings reaffirm the widespread presence of microplastic pollution in the Atlantic Ocean, contributing data from consistently under-sampled regions such as the South Atlantic.

Originalsprog	Engelsk
Artikelnummer	117217
Tidsskrift	Marine Pollution Bulletin
Vol/bind	209
Udgave nummer	Part B
Antal sider	14
ISSN	0025-326X
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.117217
Status	Udgivet - 2024

Bibliografisk note

Funding Information:
The authors acknowledge the invaluable support of Bark Europa for making the study possible by providing a research position onboard and of Aalborg University, Faculty of Engineering and Science, The Department of the Built Environment for having kindly provided access to laboratory facilities and equipment. The authors would like to thank the Ocean Cleanup Foundation, the Safina Centre and NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, who have contributed with their experience in the field of microplastic research as well as with research equipment. A sincere thank you to everyone who has helped with data processing and analysis. As well as the two reviewers for their valuable inputs which helped to improve the manuscript. This study was supported by Nordic Ocean Watch Denmark.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Authors

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10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.117217Licens: CC BY

Full textForlagets udgivne version, 13,5 MBLicens: CC BY

Citationsformater

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abstract = "Microplastics are both pervasive in the marine environment and highly detrimental to it. In this study, we investigate the abundance, distribution, and characteristics of microplastics in surface waters on a transect spanning 6 major ocean current regions in the Atlantic Ocean from Scheveningen (the Netherlands) to Montevideo (Uruguay). 50 surface trawls were completed with a manta net (mesh 500 μm, cod 333 μm) and particles were analyzed in the laboratory including polymer type identification with ATR-FTIR spectroscopy. An overall abundance of 0.011 ± 0.017 items/m3 was found with a significant correlation between microplastic abundance and distance to coast. The dominant polymer types were HD-PE (63.5 %) and PP (28.3 %), shape was fragments (88.6 %), and color was white (59.1 %). We conclude that this study's findings reaffirm the widespread presence of microplastic pollution in the Atlantic Ocean, contributing data from consistently under-sampled regions such as the South Atlantic.",

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author = "Regitze Andersen and Harsaae, {Astrid Louise} and Antonia Kellner and Abigail Smyth and Westermann, {Tia Amalie Rosenkrantz} and Mattias Green and Jes Vollertsen and Kristian Syberg and Claudia Lorenz",

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T1 - Abundance, distribution and characteristics of microplastics in the North and South Atlantic Ocean

AU - Andersen, Regitze

AU - Harsaae, Astrid Louise

AU - Kellner, Antonia

AU - Smyth, Abigail

AU - Westermann, Tia Amalie Rosenkrantz

AU - Green, Mattias

AU - Vollertsen, Jes

AU - Syberg, Kristian

AU - Lorenz, Claudia

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N2 - Microplastics are both pervasive in the marine environment and highly detrimental to it. In this study, we investigate the abundance, distribution, and characteristics of microplastics in surface waters on a transect spanning 6 major ocean current regions in the Atlantic Ocean from Scheveningen (the Netherlands) to Montevideo (Uruguay). 50 surface trawls were completed with a manta net (mesh 500 μm, cod 333 μm) and particles were analyzed in the laboratory including polymer type identification with ATR-FTIR spectroscopy. An overall abundance of 0.011 ± 0.017 items/m3 was found with a significant correlation between microplastic abundance and distance to coast. The dominant polymer types were HD-PE (63.5 %) and PP (28.3 %), shape was fragments (88.6 %), and color was white (59.1 %). We conclude that this study's findings reaffirm the widespread presence of microplastic pollution in the Atlantic Ocean, contributing data from consistently under-sampled regions such as the South Atlantic.

AB - Microplastics are both pervasive in the marine environment and highly detrimental to it. In this study, we investigate the abundance, distribution, and characteristics of microplastics in surface waters on a transect spanning 6 major ocean current regions in the Atlantic Ocean from Scheveningen (the Netherlands) to Montevideo (Uruguay). 50 surface trawls were completed with a manta net (mesh 500 μm, cod 333 μm) and particles were analyzed in the laboratory including polymer type identification with ATR-FTIR spectroscopy. An overall abundance of 0.011 ± 0.017 items/m3 was found with a significant correlation between microplastic abundance and distance to coast. The dominant polymer types were HD-PE (63.5 %) and PP (28.3 %), shape was fragments (88.6 %), and color was white (59.1 %). We conclude that this study's findings reaffirm the widespread presence of microplastic pollution in the Atlantic Ocean, contributing data from consistently under-sampled regions such as the South Atlantic.

KW - Atlantic Ocean

KW - ATR-FTIR spectroscopy

KW - Comprehensive transect

KW - Floating microplastic

KW - Manta trawl

KW - Marine litter

U2 - 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.117217

DO - 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.117217

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 39522395

AN - SCOPUS:85208284731

SN - 0025-326X

VL - 209

JO - Marine Pollution Bulletin

JF - Marine Pollution Bulletin

IS - Part B

M1 - 117217

ER -