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Marine macrophytes retain microplastics
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Water sampled within thickets of Baltic Sea macrophytes contained on average 1.7 times more microplastic particles than water sampled outside, with fibers dominating, suggesting that aquatic vegetation physically traps floating microplastics and functions as an important retention zone that concentrates pollution within coastal habitats.
Microplastics (MPs, 0.2-5 mm) contamination of water outside/inside thickets of macrophytes in the Baltic Sea was studied. The amount of MPs particles in water samples taken within thickets is on average 1.7 times higher than in water samples taken in the areas outside thickets. Fibres are the predominant type of MPs (92.5%). For algae growing on boulders, the abundance of MPs is 1245 ± 1020 items/m. Per kilogram of dry algae mass the MPs abundance is 376 ± 404 items/kgDW for all shapes of MPs particles. This value is one order of magnitude higher than in sands of the swash zone in the given area. It is shown that filamentous algae retain more fibres than cartilaginous ones: 1.9-8.5 versus 1-1.1 items/l on average. Obviously, areas covered by sea grasses are much more contaminated than water and sediments in the given region.
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.