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Assessment of manta trawling and two newly-developed surface water microplastic monitoring techniques in the open sea

The Science of The Total Environment 2022 14 citations ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count. Score: 35 ? 0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.

Zhong Pan Zhong Pan Zhong Pan Zhong Pan Zhong Pan Rupeng Du, Zhong Pan Zhong Pan Zhong Pan Rupeng Du, Rupeng Du, Rupeng Du, Xiuwu Sun, Hui Lin, Rupeng Du, Zhong Pan Xiuwu Sun, Xiuwu Sun, Zhong Pan Zhong Pan Xiuwu Sun, Hui Lin, Xiuwu Sun, Rupeng Du, Hui Lin, Hui Lin, Hui Lin, Xiuwu Sun, Rupeng Du, Zhong Pan Xiuwu Sun, Xiuwu Sun, Hui Lin, Hui Lin, Xiuwu Sun, Hui Lin, Hui Lin, Hui Lin, Rupeng Du, Hui Lin, Hui Lin, Xiuwu Sun, Hui Lin, Xiuwu Sun, Xiuwu Sun, Xiuwu Sun, Xiuwu Sun, Zhong Pan Hui Lin, Zhong Pan Hui Lin, Hui Lin, Hui Lin, Hui Lin, Hui Lin, Hui Lin, Zhong Pan Zhong Pan Hui Lin, Zhong Pan Hui Lin, Hui Lin, Hui Lin, Hui Lin, Zhong Pan Rupeng Du, Hui Lin, Hui Lin, Zhong Pan

Summary

Researchers evaluated three surface water microplastic sampling systems in the mid-North Pacific Ocean — conventional manta trawling, a trawl-underway pump combination with in-situ Y-shaped filtration (New Type I), and a stationary onboard pump with Y-shaped filter (New Type II) — comparing their collection efficiency and suitability for large-scale open-ocean monitoring.

Polymers

Study Type Environmental

The ubiquitous microplastic (MP) pollution across the waterways, sediments, biota, and atmosphere has amplified concerns at a global scale. Unfortunately, harmonized MP monitoring protocols are absent for accurate evaluation on MP pollution. Few large-scale MP sampling programs involving different designs have been implemented in the open sea. In this study, a manta trawling and two newly custom-built pump filtration systems, namely, a trawl-underway pump combination system coupled in conjunction with an in-situ filtration device (Y-shaped filter, New Type I) and a stationary onboard pumping coupled to Y-shaped filter (New Type II), were evaluated for MP pollution in the mid-North Pacific Ocean. The trawling-based systems (manta trawl and New Type I) collected samples covering a large area, whereas New Type II operated at a fixed site. The new systems achieved fractionated filtration of MPs on site and prevented airborne contamination. The electronic fuel meter installed in the New Type II yielded a more accurate volume. Results showed that the average MP abundance of the aforementioned sampling techniques were 0.65, 2.56, and 7.48 items m, respectively. The abundances in the same particle size range (0.3-5.0 mm) from the new systems were higher. The recovered MPs from all systems were mainly white and polypropylene. Note that the MPs from the manta trawl were primarily fragments; however, they were mainly fibers from the new systems. This corroborated the capability of new systems in harvesting small items (0.1-0.3 mm) and fibers. The cost analysis showed that the new systems beat the manta trawl concerning price performance. The study results provide alternatives for future MP sampling, which will ultimately aid in the method harmonization and standardization of MP sampling.

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