Presence of nanoplastics in rural and remote surface waters
It is now established that microplastics are a pervasive presence in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. The same is assumed to be true for nanoplastics but data are lacking due to technical difficulties associated with sample analysis. Here, we measured nanoplastics in waterbodies at two contrastin...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2022-01-01
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Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac68f7 |
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author | Dušan Materić Mike Peacock Joshua Dean Martyn Futter Trofim Maximov Filip Moldan Thomas Röckmann Rupert Holzinger |
author_facet | Dušan Materić Mike Peacock Joshua Dean Martyn Futter Trofim Maximov Filip Moldan Thomas Röckmann Rupert Holzinger |
author_sort | Dušan Materić |
collection | DOAJ |
description | It is now established that microplastics are a pervasive presence in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. The same is assumed to be true for nanoplastics but data are lacking due to technical difficulties associated with sample analysis. Here, we measured nanoplastics in waterbodies at two contrasting sites: remote Siberian Arctic tundra and a forest landscape in southern Sweden. Nanoplastics were detected in all sampled Swedish lakes ( n = 7) and streams ( n = 4) (mean concentration = 563 µ g l ^−1 ) and four polymer types were identified (polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate). In Siberia nanoplastics were detected in 7/12 sampled lakes, ponds and surface flooding, but only two polymer types were detected (PVC and polystyrene) and concentrations were lower (mean 51 µ g l ^−1 ). Based on back-calculation of air mass trajectories and particle dispersion, we infer that nanoplastics arrive at both sites by aerial deposition from local and regional sources. Our results suggest that nanoplastics may be a near-ubiquitous presence even in remote ecosystems. |
first_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:45:12Z |
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id | doaj.art-8cbbf1bd6fc441ebb89c2d0e7b89c282 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 1748-9326 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:45:12Z |
publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
publisher | IOP Publishing |
record_format | Article |
series | Environmental Research Letters |
spelling | doaj.art-8cbbf1bd6fc441ebb89c2d0e7b89c2822023-08-09T15:28:04ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262022-01-0117505403610.1088/1748-9326/ac68f7Presence of nanoplastics in rural and remote surface watersDušan Materić0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6454-3456Mike Peacock1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3086-2854Joshua Dean2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9058-7076Martyn Futter3Trofim Maximov4Filip Moldan5Thomas Röckmann6Rupert Holzinger7Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research Utrecht, Utrecht University , Princetonplein 5, 3584CC Utrecht, The NetherlandsDepartment of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences , Lennart Hjelms väg 9, Uppsala 750 07, SwedenSchool of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol , Bristol, United KingdomDepartment of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences , Lennart Hjelms väg 9, Uppsala 750 07, SwedenInstitute for Biological Problems of the Cryolithozone, Siberian Branch Russian Academy of Sciences , Yakutsk, RussiaIVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute , Box 53021, SE-400 14 Göteborg, SwedenInstitute for Marine and Atmospheric Research Utrecht, Utrecht University , Princetonplein 5, 3584CC Utrecht, The NetherlandsInstitute for Marine and Atmospheric Research Utrecht, Utrecht University , Princetonplein 5, 3584CC Utrecht, The NetherlandsIt is now established that microplastics are a pervasive presence in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. The same is assumed to be true for nanoplastics but data are lacking due to technical difficulties associated with sample analysis. Here, we measured nanoplastics in waterbodies at two contrasting sites: remote Siberian Arctic tundra and a forest landscape in southern Sweden. Nanoplastics were detected in all sampled Swedish lakes ( n = 7) and streams ( n = 4) (mean concentration = 563 µ g l ^−1 ) and four polymer types were identified (polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate). In Siberia nanoplastics were detected in 7/12 sampled lakes, ponds and surface flooding, but only two polymer types were detected (PVC and polystyrene) and concentrations were lower (mean 51 µ g l ^−1 ). Based on back-calculation of air mass trajectories and particle dispersion, we infer that nanoplastics arrive at both sites by aerial deposition from local and regional sources. Our results suggest that nanoplastics may be a near-ubiquitous presence even in remote ecosystems.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac68f7nanoplasticsPTR-MSTD-PTR-MSmicroplastics |
spellingShingle | Dušan Materić Mike Peacock Joshua Dean Martyn Futter Trofim Maximov Filip Moldan Thomas Röckmann Rupert Holzinger Presence of nanoplastics in rural and remote surface waters Environmental Research Letters nanoplastics PTR-MS TD-PTR-MS microplastics |
title | Presence of nanoplastics in rural and remote surface waters |
title_full | Presence of nanoplastics in rural and remote surface waters |
title_fullStr | Presence of nanoplastics in rural and remote surface waters |
title_full_unstemmed | Presence of nanoplastics in rural and remote surface waters |
title_short | Presence of nanoplastics in rural and remote surface waters |
title_sort | presence of nanoplastics in rural and remote surface waters |
topic | nanoplastics PTR-MS TD-PTR-MS microplastics |
url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac68f7 |
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