The use of microplastics as a reliable chronological marker of the Anthropocene onset in Southeastern South America.
Sci Total Environ
; 857(Pt 3): 159633, 2023 Jan 20.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-36280064
ABSTRACT
Microplastics (MPs) represent an emergent contamination marker. For this reason, we analyzed the vertical distribution of MPs in six sediment cores retrieved from the Patos-Mirim System, the world's largest coastal lagoonal system. The sediment cores span from mid Holocene to present times according to both radiocarbon and lead dating and are located close to both urban/industrial and agricultural regions. We identified a basal pre-disturbance MP-free zone in all cores and an uppermost contaminated 70-cm-zone, where a general increasing trend in MPs content resembling the human anthropization process was recorded. The predominant format of MPs was fiber, followed by fragments. The most commonly identified polymers were rayon, PVC, acrylate, polycarbonate and cellophane. Urban/industrial and agricultural activities were shown as clear sources of MPs, leading to comparable MPs concentration values in the sediment cores. Thus, MPs are collectively a reliable indicator of the Anthropocene onset, and in the Patos-Mirim System the most appropriate chronology can be assigned to the beginning of 1970s, matching the intensification of anthropogenic activities in the area.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Water Pollutants, Chemical
/
Microplastics
Limits:
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
America do sul
Language:
En
Journal:
Sci Total Environ
Year:
2023
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Brazil