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Fate of Nanoplastics in polar waters: Experimental evidence for expulsion from sea ice to saltwater
Summary
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.
Polar ecosystems play key roles in many Earth-system processes, such as the redistribution of particulate material throughout the water column and across ocean surfaces during the freeze-thaw cycles of sea ice. It has become clear that this particulate material now inevitably includes microplastics (1m-5mm) and nanoplastics (<1m) [1]. Indeed, during their long journey from continental source to the poles, plastic waste is degraded to particulate sizes. Once in polar seas, this degradation is enhanced by strong UV radiation. Microplastic concentrations in the Arctic ocean range from 10 2 to 10 3 particles per m3 and are expected to rise [2]. In particular, the Barents and Greenland seas will form zones of plastic accumulation [3]. Strikingly, microplastic concentrations in sea ice are consistently higher, by a factor approximately 100, compared to seawater [4].