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Hotspots of floating plastic particles across the North Pacific Ocean

Title	Hotspots of floating plastic particles across the North Pacific Ocean
Author	Reemtsma, T., Jahnke, A., Wagner, S., Bergmann, M., Rummel, C., Tekman, Mine Banu, Rynek, R.
Publication Date:	2024-02-23
Publication Place	- ACS
Subject	FT-IR imaging, ATR-FT-IR, Spatial distribution, Neuston catamaran, Microplastic, Anthropogenicdebris, Marine litter, Marine pollution
Type	Periodical
Language	English
Digital	Yes
Manuscript	No
Library:	Özyeğin University
Library Asset ID	0013-936X
Record ID	45762925-45e7-4fc7-8778-605623f0e8c7
Library Location	Natural and Mathematical Sciences
Date	2024-02-23
Notes	APDRC ; Helmholtz-funded infrastructure program FRAM ; Injury Prevention Research Center ; Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung ; Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung ; Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung
Sample Text	The pollution of the marine environment with plastic debris is expected to increase, where ocean currents and winds cause their accumulation in convergence zones like the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre (NPSG). Surface-floating plastic (>330 mu m) was collected in the North Pacific Ocean between Vancouver (Canada) and Singapore using a neuston catamaran and identified by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Baseline concentrations of 41,600-102,700 items km(-2) were found, dominated by polyethylene and polypropylene. Higher concentrations (factors 4-10) of plastic items occurred not only in the NPSG (452,800 items km(-2)) but also in a second area, the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument (PMNM, 285,200 items km(-2)). This second maximum was neither reported previously nor predicted by the applied ocean current model. Visual observations of floating debris (>5 cm; 8-2565 items km(-2) and 34-4941 items km(-2) including smaller "white bits") yielded similar patterns of baseline pollution (34-3265 items km(-2)) and elevated concentrations of plastic debris in the NPSG (67-4941 items km(-2)) and the PMNM (295-3748 items km(-2)). These findings suggest that ocean currents are not the only factor provoking plastic debris accumulation in the ocean. Visual observations may be useful to increase our knowledge of large-scale (micro)plastic pollution in the global oceans.
DOI	10.1021/acs.est.3c05039
Cilt	58

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Hotspots of floating plastic particles across the North Pacific Ocean

Author Reemtsma, T., Jahnke, A., Wagner, S., Bergmann, M., Rummel, C., Tekman, Mine Banu, Rynek, R.

Publication Date 2024-02-23

Publication Place - ACS

Subject FT-IR imaging, ATR-FT-IR, Spatial distribution, Neuston catamaran, Microplastic, Anthropogenicdebris, Marine litter, Marine pollution

Type Periodical

Language English

Digital Yes

Manuscript No

Library Özyeğin University

Library Asset ID 0013-936X

Record ID 45762925-45e7-4fc7-8778-605623f0e8c7

Library Location Natural and Mathematical Sciences

Date 2024-02-23

Notes APDRC ; Helmholtz-funded infrastructure program FRAM ; Injury Prevention Research Center ; Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung ; Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung ; Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung

Sample Text The pollution of the marine environment with plastic debris is expected to increase, where ocean currents and winds cause their accumulation in convergence zones like the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre (NPSG). Surface-floating plastic (>330 mu m) was collected in the North Pacific Ocean between Vancouver (Canada) and Singapore using a neuston catamaran and identified by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Baseline concentrations of 41,600-102,700 items km(-2) were found, dominated by polyethylene and polypropylene. Higher concentrations (factors 4-10) of plastic items occurred not only in the NPSG (452,800 items km(-2)) but also in a second area, the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument (PMNM, 285,200 items km(-2)). This second maximum was neither reported previously nor predicted by the applied ocean current model. Visual observations of floating debris (>5 cm; 8-2565 items km(-2) and 34-4941 items km(-2) including smaller "white bits") yielded similar patterns of baseline pollution (34-3265 items km(-2)) and elevated concentrations of plastic debris in the NPSG (67-4941 items km(-2)) and the PMNM (295-3748 items km(-2)). These findings suggest that ocean currents are not the only factor provoking plastic debris accumulation in the ocean. Visual observations may be useful to increase our knowledge of large-scale (micro)plastic pollution in the global oceans.

DOI 10.1021/acs.est.3c05039

Cilt 58