First evaluation of neustonic microplastics in Black Sea waters

The Black Sea has a high risk of plastic pollution given the high river discharge of several industrialized countries into this semi-enclosed sea. Here, for the first time, the occurrence and distribution of microplastics are reported for the Black Sea. Microplastics were assessed from zooplankton s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine environmental research 2016-08, Vol.119, p.22-30
Main Authors: Aytan, Ulgen, Valente, Andre, Senturk, Yasemen, Usta, Riza, Esensoy Sahin, Fatma Basak, Mazlum, Rahsan Evren, Agirbas, Ertugrul
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Bioavailability
Black Sea
Environmental Monitoring
Freshwater
Marine
Microplastic
MSFD
Neuston
Plastics - analysis
Seawater - chemistry
Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis
Zooplankton
Zooplankton - chemistry
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Summary:The Black Sea has a high risk of plastic pollution given the high river discharge of several industrialized countries into this semi-enclosed sea. Here, for the first time, the occurrence and distribution of microplastics are reported for the Black Sea. Microplastics were assessed from zooplankton samples taken during two cruises along the south eastern coast of the Black Sea in the November of 2014 and February of 2015. In each cruise neuston samples were collected at 12 stations using a WP2 net with 200 μm mesh. Microplastics (0.2–5 mm) were found in 92% of the samples. The primary shapes were fibres (49.4%) followed by plastic films (30.6%) and fragments (20%), and no micro beads were found. Average microplastic concentration in November (1.2 ± 1.1 × 103 par. m−3) was higher than in February (0.6 ± 0.55 × 103 par. m−3). Reduced concentrations in February were possibly caused by increased mixing. The highest concentrations of microplastics were observed in offshore stations during November sampling. The heterogeneous spatial distribution (0.2 × 103–3.3 × 103 par. m−3 for all samples) and accumulation in some stations could be associated to transport and retention mechanisms linked with wind and the dynamics of the rim current, as well by different sources of plastic. There were no statistically significant differences in MP concentration between sampling stations and sampling periods (t-test, p 
ISSN:0141-1136
1879-0291
DOI:10.1016/j.marenvres.2016.05.009