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Spatio-temporal characterization of paint-related debris as a source of metals in high maritime traffic and maintenance areas from the SW Atlantic coast.
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Researchers examined paint debris and associated metal pollution in subtidal sediments at a Southwestern Atlantic port, finding that paint microparticles near vessel maintenance areas contained elevated concentrations of metals including copper, zinc, and lead, with seasonal variation linked to maintenance activity cycles.
This study examines paint debris and associated metal pollution in subtidal sediments from a Southwestern Atlantic port, based on seasonal sampling at two sites with differing proximity to vessel maintenance areas. Brittle paint microparticles (p-MP) were extracted from sediments through a wet-sieving procedure, instead of a density-based method, to enhance recovery of fragile particles and were quantified, and characterized by size, color, elements, and polymer composition. Additionally, paint particles from marina/shipyard debris (p-DB), vessel surfaces (p-BS), and commercial paints (p-CP) were also characterized using XRF, SEM-EDS, and ATR-FTIR. Trace elements in sediments were sequentially extracted to assess their mobility and measured by AAS. Total p-MP abundance was higher at the nearby site (16,970 ± 8016 items/kg) than at the farther site (5733 ± 3249) (p < 0.05). In both sites, smaller particles in the 100-500 μm range predominated. SEM-EDS and XRF revealed Zn, Cu, Pb, Cr, and Sn in p-DB, p-MP, p-BS, and p-CP. Multivariate analysis showed that red particles contained mainly Cr/Pb, while gray and white particles were associated with Ti presence, and blue particles with Cu and Zn. ATR-FTIR identified compounds like acrylic, styrene, silicon, TiO, phthalates, and epoxy. Zn and Cu levels in sediments exceeded Sediment Quality Guidelines, but only Zn exhibited significant differences between sites (p < 0.05), enrichment factors for both metals indicated moderate contamination. Results showed that vessel maintenance facilities are a substantial source of paint-polymeric debris and might be related to trace element levels on subtidal sediments.
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