Ingested Micronizing Plastic Particle Compositions and Size Distributions within Stranded Post-Hatchling Sea Turtles.
Environ Sci Technol
; 52(18): 10307-10316, 2018 09 18.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-30118591
ABSTRACT
From July 2015 to November 2016, 96 post-hatchling sea turtles were collected from 118 km of the Atlantic coastline in Florida, USA, including loggerhead, green, and hawksbill sea turtle species. Forty-five of the recovered turtles were rehabilitated and released, but the remaining 52 died and were frozen. At necropsy, the gastrointestinal tracts of most the turtles contained visible plastic, and collected particles of 27 individuals were chemically characterized by Raman microscopy as polyethylene, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate, and polystyrene. Mesoparticle plastic fragments 1.0-8.7 mm, microparticle fragments 20-1000 µm, and nanoparticles 5-169 nm were identified in the turtles. Polyethylene and polypropylene were the most common plastics ingested from specimens representing 54.1 and 23.7% of the total observed mesoparticles and 11.7 and 21.0% of the total observed microparticles, respectively. A plastic-to-body mass ratio of 2.07 mg/g was determined for this group. The authors suggest that ingestion of micronizing plastic by post-hatchling sea turtles is likely a substantial risk to survival of these endangered and threatened species. This study also provides some of the first evidence for the formation of nanoscopic plastic particles that we theorize forms in the post-hatchling and juvenile environment and are present post-ingestion.
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Tortugas
/
Contaminantes del Agua
Límite:
Animals
País/Región como asunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Environ Sci Technol
Año:
2018
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Estados Unidos