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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.
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].
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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.
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.
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.
Nanoplastics Distribution during Ice Formation: Insights into Natural Surface Water Freezing Conditions
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Laboratory experiments simulating natural surface water freezing found that nanoplastics were excluded from forming ice and concentrated in unfrozen water regions, with a new local distribution coefficient developed to better characterize nanoplastic behavior during freeze-thaw cycles.
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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.