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Micro- and nanoplastic transfer in freezing saltwater: implications for their fate in polar waters
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Researchers investigated the fate of micro- and nanoplastics during sea-ice formation using a novel experimental system that simulated progressive saltwater freezing, measuring how plastics partition between ice and liquid phases and assessing implications for plastic accumulation and transport in Arctic environments.
Plastic debris accumulates in the Arctic by way of oceanic and atmospheric circulation. High concentrations of microplastics (1 μm to 5 mm) have been measured, and nanoplastics (<1 μm) are expected to be abundant as well. However, little is known about the mobility of micro- and nanoplastics at the seawater/ice interface. This study investigates the fate of micro- and nanoplastics during sea-ice formation. A novel experimental approach simulates the growth of sea ice by progressively freezing a saline solution. After different durations of freezing, the concentrations of NaCl, natural organic matter, microplastics, and nanoplastics were measured in the ice and liquid. Micro- and nanoplastic distribution coefficients between saltwater and ice were determined, reflecting their behavior during congelation sea-ice growth. The results show that microplastics are retained in ice while nanoplastics are expulsed from it. Furthermore, natural organic matter plays a crucial role in stabilizing nanoplastics at this interface. These results raise new questions concerning the impact of micro- and nanoplastics in fragile polar environments and the analytical strategy to detect them.
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Fate of Nanoplastics in polar waters: Experimental evidence for expulsion from sea ice to saltwater
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Researchers conducted laboratory experiments showing that nanoplastics suspended in seawater are expelled from forming sea ice back into the underlying saltwater during freezing, rather than becoming trapped in the ice. This suggests that freeze-thaw cycles in polar regions could concentrate nanoplastics in surface seawater during spring melt.
Microplastics in sea ice: A fingerprint of bubble flotation
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Researchers ran controlled laboratory experiments on ice formation from fresh and saltwater to understand how bubble flotation drives microplastic incorporation and concentration in sea ice, finding that bubbles entrain plastic particles during freezing and explain the unexpectedly high and compositionally distinct microplastic loads found in sea ice.
Entrainment and Enrichment of Microplastics in Ice Formation Processes: Implications for the Transport of Microplastics in Cold Regions
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Researchers investigated how microplastic properties and environmental conditions affect their entrainment and enrichment during ice formation, finding that sea ice selectively concentrates microplastics and can serve as both a temporary sink and a transport medium in cold regions.
Revealing the Freezing-Induced Alteration in Microplastic Behavior and Its Implication for the Microplastics Released from Seasonal Ice
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Researchers revealed how freeze-thaw cycling alters microplastic behavior in environmental matrices, finding that freezing changes particle aggregation, surface properties, and transport dynamics with implications for polar and seasonally frozen environments.
Distribution of microplastics between ice and water in aquatic systems: The influence of particle properties, salinity and freshwater characteristics
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Laboratory freezing experiments showed that ice formation in both saltwater and freshwater captures microplastics, but the extent varies significantly with water chemistry, particle shape, and suspended solids — fiber-shaped particles were far less likely to be trapped in ice than fragments. In cold climates, ice can act as a seasonal reservoir that concentrates microplastics and then releases them in large pulses when it melts, making spring snowmelt a potentially significant delivery event for aquatic ecosystems. These findings are relevant for understanding microplastic dynamics in Arctic, subarctic, and temperate freshwater systems.
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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.