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Microplastics in the Water Column of Western Lake Superior
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Researchers sampled the pelagic water column and air-water interface at four locations in western Lake Superior to characterize the presence and depth distribution of microplastics under both stratified and unstratified seasonal conditions. Results confirmed microplastics are present throughout the Lake Superior water column, revealing that surface-only sampling significantly underestimates total microplastic loads in this Great Lakes system.
Microplastic contamination of surface waters, sediments, and shorelines of the Laurentian Great Lakes has received substantial attention. However, little is known regarding the presence of microplastics in the pelagic water column within these freshwater systems. We sampled the water column and the air–water interface at four locations in western Lake Superior. Our results show that microplastics are present in the Lake Superior water column under both stratified and unstratified conditions. The depth distributions found at the Lake Superior sites suggest that, to understand the total load of microplastics, it is insufficient to extrapolate from surface water concentrations alone. Additionally, we investigated the relationships between microplastic abundance and water column characteristics (e.g., temperature or clarity); no significant correlations were found across all sample sites. Finally, we developed an automated computational pipeline to detect microplastics based on hyperspectral data gathered via FTIR microscopy. The automated approach was capable of accurately detecting relative differences in microplastic abundances but consistently overpredicted particle abundance as compared to manual analysis of both natural and control samples. This research extends our understanding of the distributions of microplastics within large lake systems and develops a new tool for automatic detection of microplastics in natural samples.
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Researchers sampled beach sand and surface water in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore of Lake Superior, finding microlitter particles including microplastics even in this relatively pristine Great Lakes environment, with samples collected in May and July 2018.
Laboratory and numerical investigation of the factors controlling the residence time of microplastics in the water column of thermally stratified lakes
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Researchers used laboratory experiments and numerical modeling to investigate how thermal stratification in lakes affects the residence time of microplastics in the water column, finding that stratification traps particles in specific depth layers. Thermally stratified summer conditions increase the likelihood that microplastics will be encountered and ingested by filter-feeding organisms at particular depths.
Microplastics in the surface water and sediments of western Lake Superior as determined via microscopy, Pyr-GC/MS, and FTIR.
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This University of Minnesota thesis determined the presence and characteristics of microplastics in surface water and sediments of western Lake Superior using microscopy, pyrolysis-GC/MS, and FTIR analytical techniques. The study quantified microplastic abundance and polymer composition in this Great Lakes freshwater environment.
Research digests by email
When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.