We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
Oil spills enhanced dispersion and transport of microplastics in sea water and sand at coastal beachheads
Summary
Researchers collected sea water and sand from three Chinese coastal beachheads (Bohai Sea, East Sea, South Sea) to investigate how oil spills affect the dispersion and transport of microplastics. They found that oil spills greatly enhanced microplastic dispersion in all three sea water environments and altered their transport dynamics in coastal sand, compounding the environmental threat of combined pollution events.
The coastal zone is being under the threat by accumulation of microplastics (MPs), with much of MPs ending up on the beachhead. Oil spills, which frequently happen in coastal zones due to oil pipe leakage or oil drilling, may affect the behavior of MPs in the beachheads. Herein, sea water and sea sand were collected from three different coastal beachheads including Bohai Sea (BS), East Sea (ES), and South Sea (SS), China, to investigate how the oil spills affect the dispersion and transport of MPs in sea water and sand. The oil spills greatly enhanced the dispersion of MPs in all three sea waters by forming MPs-oil-dispersant agglomerates, which increased the electrostatic repulsion and steric hindrance between MPs particles. Accordingly, the aggregation rates of MPs were reduced from 1.7-8.86 nm min to 0.39-1.29 nm min. The lowest salinity and highest dissolved organic carbon content in SS sea water favored the highest dispersion of MPs, compared to BS and ES sea water. The improved dispersion of MPs with oil spills enhanced their transport in sea sand with an increase of effluent rates from 0-18.8 % to 5.78-42.2 % for BS and from 30.5-45.2 % to 35.0-60.0 % for SS one. However, the transport of MPs in ES sea sand was lower than 3.62 %, even with oil spills, which was attributed to the strong adsorption of MPs by the rich Fe/Al oxides in ES sea sand through electric attraction. Modeling also showed that oil spills increased the migration rate of 10 mg g MPs accumulated in the surface 0-1 cm sea sand from 6.50-13.8 cm year to 8.17-16.7 cm year after 1500 mm rainfall for 3 years, and the strongest transport of MPs was observed in SS sea sand, with the highest cumulative flux and the longest maximum migration depth as 0.089-0.120 mg/cm and 50 cm, respectively. These results indicated that the dispersion and transport of MPs can be enhanced by oil spills, but regulated by sea water salinity for MPs dispersion and sea sand Fe/Al oxides for MPs transport, which advanced our understanding of the transport and transformation of MPs in coastal zones.
Sign in to start a discussion.
More Papers Like This
Model studies on transport of microplastics from a leak accident
Researchers investigated a microplastic spill accident along the Chinese coastline and modeled how the particles dispersed across nearby beaches. The study found significant accumulation on multiple beaches within days of the spill, underscoring the rapid spread of plastic pollution in coastal environments after an accidental release.
Microplastic Contamination on the Beaches of South China
Researchers surveyed microplastic contamination across 14 beaches along the South China coast, finding microplastics ubiquitously present in sandy sediments, predominantly as small fragments under 1 mm, with distribution patterns linked to coastal urbanization and ocean current dynamics.
Interactions among microplastics, spilled oil and dispersant: Impacts of marine environmental conditions
When oil spills happen in coastal waters already contaminated with microplastics, the interactions between oil, microplastics, and chemical dispersants become complex. This study tested how different water temperatures, salt concentrations, and wave conditions affect how oil disperses and settles when microplastics and dispersants are both present, finding that higher temperature and salinity enhanced oil dispersion while microplastics and dispersants together increased the amount of oil entering the water column. These findings matter for crafting more effective and ecologically safer oil spill responses in plastic-polluted marine environments.
Effect of Salinity and Temperature on the Dispersion of Spilled Oil in the Presence of Microplastics
Researchers investigated how salinity and temperature affect the dispersion of spilled oil in seawater when microplastics are present, finding that these environmental variables alter oil droplet behavior and distribution. The results suggest that microplastics complicate oil spill dynamics in ways that vary with ocean conditions.
Characteristics, behaviour and fluxes of microplastics in the coastal boundary zones of the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea
This study characterized the behavior and fluxes of microplastics in the coastal boundary zone, tracking how MPs move between nearshore waters, beach sediments, and the open sea under different hydrodynamic conditions.