Fibers spreading worldwide: Microplastics and other anthropogenic litter in an Arctic freshwater lake.
Sci Total Environ
; 722: 137904, 2020 Jun 20.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32199389
ABSTRACT
We investigated the presence of microplastics and other anthropogenic litter in the sediments adhered to rocks of an Arctic freshwater lake at Ny-Ålesund (Svalbard Archipelago, 78°N; 11°E). Most of the sampled microparticles were fibers (>90%). The identification of polymer types and additives was performed by combining three spectroscopic techniques, namely Raman Microscopy, Fourier-Transform Infrared microspectroscopy (µFTIR) and Synchrotron Radiation µFTIR (SR-FTIR). SR-FTIR confirmed the presence of poly(ethylene terephthalate) fibers, while RAMAN spectroscopy provided evidence of fibers containing industrial additives. Our results estimated an average concentration of 400 microparticles/m2 of rocks identified as anthropogenic litter, which included an estimation of 90 microplastics/m2 identified as polyester fibers; the rest are mostly natural fibers with evidence of anthropogenic origin. Taken together, the results proved the occurrence of anthropogenic pollutants in remote polar areas. Their probable origin is the long range atmospheric transport.
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Sci Total Environ
Año:
2020
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
España