Microplastic Abundance and Composition in Western Lake Superior As Determined via Microscopy, Pyr-GC/MS, and FTIR

While plastic pollution in marine and freshwater systems is an active area of research, there is not yet an in-depth understanding of the distributions, chemical compositions, and fates of plastics in aquatic environments. In this study, the magnitude, distribution, and common polymers of microplast...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental science & technology 2018-02, Vol.52 (4), p.1787-1796
Main Authors: Hendrickson, Erik, Minor, Elizabeth C, Schreiner, Kathryn
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aquatic environment
Chromatography
Contamination
Fibers
Fourier transforms
Freshwater pollution
Gas chromatography
Human populations
Infrared spectroscopy
Lakes
Marine pollution
Mass spectrometry
Mass spectroscopy
Microplastics
Microscopy
Particulates
Plastic debris
Plastic pollution
Plastics
Pollution
Polyethylene
Polyethylenes
Polymers
Polypropylene
Polyvinyl chloride
Pyrolysis
Surface water
Water analysis
Water pollution
Watersheds
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Summary:While plastic pollution in marine and freshwater systems is an active area of research, there is not yet an in-depth understanding of the distributions, chemical compositions, and fates of plastics in aquatic environments. In this study, the magnitude, distribution, and common polymers of microplastic pollution in surface waters in western Lake Superior are determined. Analytical methodology, including estimates of ambient contamination during sample collection and processing, are described and employed. Microscopy, pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Pyr-GC/MS), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were used to quantify and identify microplastic particles. In surface waters, fibers were the most frequently observed morphology, and, based upon PyGC/MS analysis,  polyvinyl chloride was the most frequently observed polymer, followed by polypropylene and polyethylene. The most common polymer identified by FTIR was polyethylene. Despite the low human population in Lake Superior’s watershed, microplastic particles (particularly fibers, fragments, and films) were identified in western-lake surface waters at levels comparable to average values reported in studies within Lake Michigan, the North Atlantic Ocean, and the South Pacific Ocean. This study provides insight into the magnitude of microplastic pollution in western Lake Superior, and describes in detail methodology to improve future microplastics studies in aquatic systems.
ISSN:0013-936X
1520-5851
DOI:10.1021/acs.est.7b05829