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Article ? AI-assigned paper type based on the abstract. Classification may not be perfect — flag errors using the feedback button. Tier 2 ? Original research — experimental, observational, or case-control study. Direct primary evidence. Environmental Sources Food & Water Marine & Wildlife Nanoplastics Sign in to save

Frazil Ice Formation Causes Divergent Levels of Microplastic and Nanoplastic Accumulation in Sea Ice

Environmental Science & Technology Letters 2025 1 citation ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count. Score: 43 ? 0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.
Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Florian Odic, Florian Odic, Alice Pradel, Alice Pradel, Alice Pradel, Alice Pradel, Alice Pradel, Alice Pradel, Alice Pradel, Alice Pradel, Alice Pradel, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Alice Pradel, Alice Pradel, Alice Pradel, Martin Schneebeli Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Alice Pradel, Denise M. Mitrano, Alice Pradel, Alice Pradel, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Martin Schneebeli Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Martin Schneebeli Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Denise M. Mitrano, Martin Schneebeli

Summary

Researchers used laboratory experiments to directly test for the first time whether frazil ice — the tiny ice crystals that form at the ocean surface in polar regions — concentrates microplastics and nanoplastics as it forms. They found that microplastics were enriched nearly three times in the ice relative to the underlying seawater, consistent with field observations of high microplastic levels in Arctic and Antarctic sea ice. Nanoplastics, however, behaved more like salt ions and were actually excluded from the bulk ice, potentially concentrating instead in the briny pockets where polar microorganisms live. This distinction between how micro- and nanoplastics behave in polar ice has important implications for understanding their ecological impact in polar food webs.

Study Type Environmental

Plastic pollution is found in polar sea ice with concentrations of microplastics (MPs, 1 μm–5 mm) 2 to 4 orders of magnitude higher than in the underlying seawater. Such accumulation is often attributed to the scavenging of MPs by rising frazil ice crystals, but there is no direct evidence of such a process. Furthermore, nanoplastics (NPs, 1 nm–1 μm) are suspected to be present, but their fate is unknown due to the lack of field measurements. Here micro- and nanoplastics’ (MNPs) enrichment by frazil ice was quantified using model particles and an experimental setup which generated realistic frazil ice. Particle size had a significant impact on behavior: on one hand, high-density MPs concentrations were 2.97 ± 1.13 times higher in the ice than in the underlying water, which is consistent with field observations. On the other hand, NPs were depleted to the same extent as sea salts, by a factor of 0.32 ± 0.13. Like salts, NPs may be locally enriched in the brine channels and pockets of sea ice where microalgae thrive. Overall, this work shows that frazil ice plays an important role in the cycling of MNPs, as it can concentrate MPs in sea ice and concentrate NPs locally in brine channels and pockets.

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