From macroplastic to microplastic: Degradation of high‐density polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene in a salt marsh habitat

Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry - Tập 35 Số 7 - Trang 1632-1640 - 2016
John E. Weinstein1, Brittany K. Crocker1, Austin D. Gray1
1Department of Biology The Citadel, Military College of South Carolina Charleston South Carolina USA

Tóm tắt

AbstractAs part of the degradation process, it is believed that most plastic debris becomes brittle over time, fragmenting into progressively smaller particles. The smallest of these particles, known as microplastics, have been receiving increased attention because of the hazards they present to wildlife. To understand the process of plastic degradation in an intertidal salt marsh habitat, strips (15.2 cm × 2.5 cm) of high‐density polyethylene, polypropylene, and extruded polystyrene were field‐deployed in June 2014 and monitored for biological succession, weight, surface area, ultraviolet (UV) transmittance, and fragmentation. Subsets of strips were collected after 4 wk, 8 wk, 16 wk, and 32 wk. After 4 wk, biofilm had developed on all 3 polymers with evidence of grazing periwinkles (Littoraria irrorata). The accreting biofilm resulted in an increased weight of the polypropylene and polystyrene strips at 32 wk by 33.5% and 167.0%, respectively, with a concomitant decrease in UV transmittance by approximately 99%. Beginning at 8 wk, microplastic fragments and fibers were produced from strips of all 3 polymers, and scanning electron microscopy revealed surface erosion of the strips characterized by extensive cracking and pitting. The results suggest that the degradation of plastic debris proceeds relatively quickly in salt marshes and that surface delamination is the primary mechanism by which microplastic particles are produced in the early stages of degradation. Environ Toxicol Chem 2016;35:1632–1640. © 2016 SETAC

Từ khóa


Tài liệu tham khảo

10.1017/S0376892902000061

US Environmental Protection Agency.2015. Advancing sustainable materials management: 2013 fact sheet. EPA 530‐R‐15‐003. Washington DC.

10.1126/science.1260352

AllsoppM WaltersA SantilloD JohnstonP.2006. Plastic debris in the world's oceans. Greenpeace Amsterdam The Netherlands.

10.1002/ieam.5630030412

10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2007.11.008

10.1016/j.marpolbul.2011.05.030

10.1098/rstb.2008.0205

10.1016/0141-3910(89)90112-2

10.1007/BF01418205

10.1021/es903784e

Kershaw P, 2011, Plastic debris in the ocean, UNEP Year Book, 20

WennerEL HollandAF SangerDM.1998. Assessing short‐term variability in dissolved oxygen and other water quality variables in shallow estuarine habitats.Ocean Community Conference '98 Proceedings Vol2. Marine Technology Society Baltimore MD USA pp802–806.

10.3354/meps056111

Ross SW., 2003, The relative value of different estuarine nursery areas in North Carolina for transient juvenile marine fishes, Fish Bull, 101, 384

10.1016/S0022-0981(03)00357-5

10.1016/j.marpolbul.2011.09.010

10.1016/S0168-1656(00)00407-7

10.3390/polym5010001

10.1021/acs.est.5b02431

AndradyAL.2003.Plastics and the Environment. John Wiley & Sons Hoboken NJ USA.

10.1016/j.marpolbul.2010.08.005

WeldenNAC.2015. Microplastic pollution in the Clyde Sea area: A study using the indicator speciesNephrops norvegicus. PhD thesis. University of Glasgow Glasgow Scotland.

10.1080/10236248909378731

10.2112/SI45-059.1

10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2004.01.013

10.1016/j.vibspec.2003.05.002

10.1016/j.marpolbul.2009.12.026

10.1016/j.biotechadv.2007.12.005

10.1021/es401288x

10.1128/AEM.69.11.6676-6687.2003

10.1890/0012-9658(2001)082[2830:TDCOSA]2.0.CO;2

10.1007/BF00541649

Hamilton PV., 1976, Predation on Littorina irrorata (Mollusca: Gastropoda) by Callinectes sapidus (Crustacea: Portunidae), Bull Mar Sci, 26, 403

Tucker AD, 1995, Resource partitioning by the estuarine turtle Malaclemys terrapin: Trophic, spatial, and temporal foraging constraints, Herpetologica, 51, 167

10.1016/j.envpol.2013.02.031

10.1016/S0025-326X(02)00220-5

Thông tin
Thông tin xuất bản

Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry

Tập 35 Số 7

1632-1640

Thông tin tác giả