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Microplastic as a long-range transporter of chemical additives to the Canadian Arctic
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This review assessed whether microplastics traveling via ocean and atmospheric currents carry chemical additives from source regions to the Canadian Arctic, an environment far removed from most plastic production and use. The authors reviewed evidence that both sorbed chemicals and additives embedded in plastic polymers can accumulate in remote polar environments through long-range transport on microplastic particles. The findings have implications for Arctic ecosystem health and the safety of food sources relied on by Indigenous communities.
Microplastics travel long distances via ocean and atmospheric currents. Plastic emissions are projected to increase even under the most optimistic circumstances. Continued increase in plastic production will inevitably lead to an increase in environmental inputs. Microplastics enter the environment with a complex chemical cocktail, including sorbed and additive chemicals. Because microplastics can travel long distances via long-range transport, this begs the question whether signatures of microplastics and their chemical additives can be observed in ice cores collected from the remote Arctic. Here, we used ice cores to ask questions about the trends in microplastics and previously analyzed chemicals (i.e., per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and organophosphate esters (OPEs)) over time. To assess whether microplastics are a vector for long-range transport of organic chemicals, we assessed relationships between the amount of microplastics and PFAS (sorbed chemicals) and organophosphate esters (plastic additive chemicals) through time. Our samples came from a firn core on the Devon Island Ice Cap, Nunavut, Canada. We found an increasing trend in microplastic concentration over time. We did not observe a relationship between microplastics and PFAS. However, we did find a significant relationship between microplastic and organophosphate esters suggesting microplastics as a long-range transporter of additive chemicals. As we begin to understand the global plastic cycle, it is important to understand the associated chemical transport via long-range movement of microplastics. Also see: https://micro2022.sciencesconf.org/427419/document
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