Macrophytes: A Temporary Sink for Microplastics in Transitional Water Systems

Marine macrophytes are hypothesized to be a major temporary sink for microplastics. In this study, microplastic contamination was investigated in 15 macroalgal species and one seagrass from different sites in two lagoons of the northern Adriatic Sea: the Goro lagoon and the Venice lagoon. A high per...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Andrea Augusto Sfriso, Yari Tomio, Abdul-Salam Juhmani, Adriano Sfriso, Cristina Munari, Michele Mistri
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: MDPI AG 2021
Materias:
EPS
Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/b252b80cbe52438884f492a0571abcf2
Etiquetas: Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
Descripción
Sumario:Marine macrophytes are hypothesized to be a major temporary sink for microplastics. In this study, microplastic contamination was investigated in 15 macroalgal species and one seagrass from different sites in two lagoons of the northern Adriatic Sea: the Goro lagoon and the Venice lagoon. A high percentage (94%) of the macrophyte samples contained microplastics, ranging from 0.16 to 330 items g<sup>−1</sup> fw, with the prevalent size in the range 30–90 µm and an average contamination per unit of fresh weight of 14 items g<sup>−1</sup> fw. Microplastic contamination displayed a site-specific, rather than a species-specific, pattern of accumulation. In addition, exopolysaccharides (EPS) displayed a significant positive correlation with the microplastics ononcontamination on macrophytes acting as glue for the plastic particles available in the water column.