Microplastics integrating the coastal planktonic community in the inner zone of the Río de la Plata estuary (South America).
Environ Pollut
; 243(Pt A): 134-142, 2018 Dec.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-30172119
ABSTRACT
This study explores in plankton samples the abundance, distribution, size, types (fibres and fragments), colours of the microplastics (MPs) and its relation with the characteristics of the plankton (size and morphology) of the Río de la Plata estuary. Water samples were collected in triplicate in freshwater-mixohaline tidal zone of the estuary, in ten sampling sites located along 150â¯km of coast, in two periods (September-November 2016 and April-June 2017). The results revealed the presence of MPs in all the samples analysed, with a dominance of fibres and sizes >500â¯≤â¯1000⯵m, and blue colour being more frequent. The MPs distribution was significantly different among sampling sites, being more abundant in the most urbanized sites, sewage discharges and near the maximum turbidity front. The mean density, in the two samplings analysed, were 164 and 114â¯MPsâ¯m-3. The fibres amount was significantly different among sites. The MPs integrated a planktonic community dominated by pico-microphytoplankton, mainly conformed by filaments/chains and solitary forms and by micro-mesozooplankton. The comparative analysis of plankton and MPs demonstrated that a fraction of the latter showed a frequency range of size that coincides with the most common sizes of plankton (≤500⯵m). The mean percentage of MPs items in relation to zooplankton was 0.36% (sampling 1) and 1.20% (sampling 2) and for phytoplankton was 0.0002% (sampling 1) and 0.0005% (sampling 2). The correlations between the MPs concentration and habitat quality (IHRPlata index) were statistically significant, on the contrary correlations between the MPs concentration and measured environmental variables were not found. The findings of this study emphasises the need for a better treatment of urban waste, which would contribute to reducing the entry of this pollutant into the ecosystem. The presence of microplastics in plankton samples on the coast of the Río de la Plata estuary.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Plancton
/
Plásticos
/
Estuarios
Límite:
Animals
País como asunto:
America do sul
Idioma:
En
Año:
2018
Tipo del documento:
Article