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Published VersionCC BY V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Sea surface microplastics in the Galapagos: Grab samples reveal high concentrations of particles <200 μm in size
Science of the Total Environment, Vol.923, pp.1-13
2024
PMID: 38438045
Abstract
Plastic pollution in the oceans is increasing, yet most global sea surface data is collected using plankton nets which limits our knowledge of the smaller and more bioaccessible size fraction of microplastics (<5 mm). We sampled the biodiverse coastal waters of the Galapagos Island of San Cristobal, comparing two different microplastic sampling methodologies; 1 l whole seawater grab samples filtered to 1.2 μm and sea surface plankton tows with a net mesh size of 200 μm. Our data reveal high concentrations of microplastics in Galapagos coastal waters surrounding the urban area, averaging 11.5 ± 1.48 particles l−1, with a four-order of magnitude increase in microplastic abundance observed using grab sampling compared with 200 μm plankton nets. This increase was greater when including anthropogenic cellulose particles, averaging 19.8 ± 1.86 particles l−1. Microplastic and anthropogenic cellulose particles smaller than 200 μm comprised 44 % of the particles from grab samples, suggesting previous estimates of microplastic pollution based on plankton nets likely miss and therefore underestimate these smaller particles. The particle characteristics and distribution of these smaller particles points strongly to a local input of cellulosic fibres in addition to the microplastic particles transported longer distances via the Humbolt current found across the surface seawater of the Galapagos. Improving our understanding of particle characteristics and distributions to highlight likely local sources will facilitate the development of local mitigation and management plans to reduce the input and impacts of microplastics to marine species, not just in the Galapagos but globally.
Details
- Title
- Sea surface microplastics in the Galapagos: Grab samples reveal high concentrations of particles <200 μm in size
- Authors
- Katie Deakin - University of ExeterGeorgie Savage - University of ExeterJen S Jones - University of ExeterAdam Porter - University of ExeterJuan Pablo Muñoz-Pérez - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and EngineeringDavid Santillo - University of ExeterCeri Lewis (Corresponding Author) - University of Exeter
- Publication details
- Science of the Total Environment, Vol.923, pp.1-13
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Date published
- 2024
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171428
- ISSN
- 1879-1026; 0048-9697
- PMID
- 38438045
- Copyright note
- © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
- Data Availability
- he research data supporting this publication are openly available from NERC EDS British Oceanographic Data Centre NOC at: https://doi. org/10.5285/0861da3d-4d76-50f0-e063-6c86abc08a7e.
- Organisation Unit
- School of Science, Technology and Engineering
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991014497102621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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