Effects of biofouling on the sinking behavior of microplastics
Although plastic is ubiquitous in marine systems, our current knowledge of transport mechanisms is limited. Much of the plastic entering the ocean sinks; this is intuitively obvious for polymers such as polystyrene (PS), which have a greater density than seawater, but lower density polymers like pol...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2017-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa8e8b |
| _version_ | 1827870827207458816 |
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| author | David Kaiser Nicole Kowalski Joanna J Waniek |
| author_facet | David Kaiser Nicole Kowalski Joanna J Waniek |
| author_sort | David Kaiser |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Although plastic is ubiquitous in marine systems, our current knowledge of transport mechanisms is limited. Much of the plastic entering the ocean sinks; this is intuitively obvious for polymers such as polystyrene (PS), which have a greater density than seawater, but lower density polymers like polyethylene (PE) also occur in sediments. Biofouling can cause large plastic objects to sink, but this phenomenon has not been described for microplastics <5 mm. We incubated PS and PE microplastic particles in estuarine and coastal waters to determine how biofouling changes their sinking behavior. Sinking velocities of PS increased by 16% in estuarine water (salinity 9.8) and 81% in marine water (salinity 36) after 6 weeks of incubation. Thereafter sinking velocities decreased due to lower water temperatures and reduced light availability. Biofouling did not cause PE to sink during the 14 weeks of incubation in estuarine water, but PE started to sink after six weeks in coastal water when sufficiently colonized by blue mussels Mytilus edulis , and its velocity continued to increase until the end of the incubation period. Sinking velocities of these PE pellets were similar irrespective of salinity (10 vs. 36). Biofilm composition differed between estuarine and coastal stations, presumably accounting for differences in sinking behavior. We demonstrate that biofouling enhances microplastic deposition to marine sediments, and our findings should improve microplastic transport models. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:02:29Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-47d55b8f985241c29d9521454ce9b4fc |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:02:29Z |
| publishDate | 2017-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-47d55b8f985241c29d9521454ce9b4fc2023-08-09T14:34:53ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262017-01-01121212400310.1088/1748-9326/aa8e8bEffects of biofouling on the sinking behavior of microplasticsDavid Kaiser0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3629-6336Nicole Kowalski1Joanna J Waniek2Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research , Seestrasse 15, 18119 Rostock, Germany; Author to whom any correspondence should be addressed.Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research , Seestrasse 15, 18119 Rostock, GermanyLeibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research , Seestrasse 15, 18119 Rostock, GermanyAlthough plastic is ubiquitous in marine systems, our current knowledge of transport mechanisms is limited. Much of the plastic entering the ocean sinks; this is intuitively obvious for polymers such as polystyrene (PS), which have a greater density than seawater, but lower density polymers like polyethylene (PE) also occur in sediments. Biofouling can cause large plastic objects to sink, but this phenomenon has not been described for microplastics <5 mm. We incubated PS and PE microplastic particles in estuarine and coastal waters to determine how biofouling changes their sinking behavior. Sinking velocities of PS increased by 16% in estuarine water (salinity 9.8) and 81% in marine water (salinity 36) after 6 weeks of incubation. Thereafter sinking velocities decreased due to lower water temperatures and reduced light availability. Biofouling did not cause PE to sink during the 14 weeks of incubation in estuarine water, but PE started to sink after six weeks in coastal water when sufficiently colonized by blue mussels Mytilus edulis , and its velocity continued to increase until the end of the incubation period. Sinking velocities of these PE pellets were similar irrespective of salinity (10 vs. 36). Biofilm composition differed between estuarine and coastal stations, presumably accounting for differences in sinking behavior. We demonstrate that biofouling enhances microplastic deposition to marine sediments, and our findings should improve microplastic transport models.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa8e8bsinking velocitybiofilmmicroplastic incubationpolystyrenepolyethyleneSEM |
| spellingShingle | David Kaiser Nicole Kowalski Joanna J Waniek Effects of biofouling on the sinking behavior of microplastics Environmental Research Letters sinking velocity biofilm microplastic incubation polystyrene polyethylene SEM |
| title | Effects of biofouling on the sinking behavior of microplastics |
| title_full | Effects of biofouling on the sinking behavior of microplastics |
| title_fullStr | Effects of biofouling on the sinking behavior of microplastics |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effects of biofouling on the sinking behavior of microplastics |
| title_short | Effects of biofouling on the sinking behavior of microplastics |
| title_sort | effects of biofouling on the sinking behavior of microplastics |
| topic | sinking velocity biofilm microplastic incubation polystyrene polyethylene SEM |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa8e8b |
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