Microplastics in the surface sediments of Krossfjord-Kongsfjord system, Svalbard, Arctic

Shabnam Choudhary; Kannaiyan Neelavanan; Syed Mohammad Saalim

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.113452

Microplastics in the surface sediments of Krossfjord-Kongsfjord system, Svalbard, Arctic

Shabnam Choudhary^*
, Kannaiyan Neelavanan
, Syed Mohammad Saalim

^*Corresponding author for this work

Applied Research Center for Environment and Marine Studies

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

28 Scopus citations

Abstract

Krossfjord-Kongsfjord system in the European Arctic has been assessed for abundance, source and distribution of microplastics in the surface sediments. The average abundance of microplastics in Krossfjord and Kongsfjord is 721.42 ± 217.89 (n = 5) pieces/kg and 783 ± 530.28 (n = 8) pieces/kg. Polymers like polyethylene and polypropylene are abundant in the sediment samples. Fibers are the most common shape of plastic particles. A high abundance of smaller plastic particles in the sediment may be due to the fragmentation of larger plastic particles during transportation. The microplastics' spatial distribution, shape, size, and composition suggest that the long-range transport by west Spitsbergen current and local inputs from anthropogenic activities are possible sources of microplastics found in the study area. Our results exhibit the presence of microplastic pollution, suggesting the influence of anthropogenic activity in the Arctic fjord and the need to control/reduce marine pollution which has become a potential threat to marine organisms.

Original language	English
Article number	113452
Journal	Marine Pollution Bulletin
Volume	176
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.113452
State	Published - Mar 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors place on record to thank the director of the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), Goa for providing the opportunity to one of the authors (SC) to participate in the Indian Arctic programme, and the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MOES) for providing the logistic support required for the collection of samples. The authors are thankful to the Institute for Ocean Management, Anna University, Chennai for providing laboratory facilities. One of the authors (SC) would like to thank the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) for awarding a National Post-Doc Fellowship (PDF/2020/000857).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier Ltd

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 14 Life Below Water

Keywords

Krossfjord-Kongsfjord
Microplastics
Polymers
Sediment
Svalbard

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Oceanography
Aquatic Science
Pollution

Access to Document

10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.113452

Cite this

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title = "Microplastics in the surface sediments of Krossfjord-Kongsfjord system, Svalbard, Arctic",

abstract = "Krossfjord-Kongsfjord system in the European Arctic has been assessed for abundance, source and distribution of microplastics in the surface sediments. The average abundance of microplastics in Krossfjord and Kongsfjord is 721.42 ± 217.89 (n = 5) pieces/kg and 783 ± 530.28 (n = 8) pieces/kg. Polymers like polyethylene and polypropylene are abundant in the sediment samples. Fibers are the most common shape of plastic particles. A high abundance of smaller plastic particles in the sediment may be due to the fragmentation of larger plastic particles during transportation. The microplastics' spatial distribution, shape, size, and composition suggest that the long-range transport by west Spitsbergen current and local inputs from anthropogenic activities are possible sources of microplastics found in the study area. Our results exhibit the presence of microplastic pollution, suggesting the influence of anthropogenic activity in the Arctic fjord and the need to control/reduce marine pollution which has become a potential threat to marine organisms.",

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author = "Shabnam Choudhary and Kannaiyan Neelavanan and Saalim, \{Syed Mohammad\}",

note = "Funding Information: The authors place on record to thank the director of the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), Goa for providing the opportunity to one of the authors (SC) to participate in the Indian Arctic programme, and the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MOES) for providing the logistic support required for the collection of samples. The authors are thankful to the Institute for Ocean Management, Anna University, Chennai for providing laboratory facilities. One of the authors (SC) would like to thank the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) for awarding a National Post-Doc Fellowship (PDF/2020/000857). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 Elsevier Ltd",

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AU - Choudhary, Shabnam

AU - Neelavanan, Kannaiyan

AU - Saalim, Syed Mohammad

N1 - Funding Information: The authors place on record to thank the director of the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), Goa for providing the opportunity to one of the authors (SC) to participate in the Indian Arctic programme, and the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MOES) for providing the logistic support required for the collection of samples. The authors are thankful to the Institute for Ocean Management, Anna University, Chennai for providing laboratory facilities. One of the authors (SC) would like to thank the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) for awarding a National Post-Doc Fellowship (PDF/2020/000857). Publisher Copyright: © 2022 Elsevier Ltd

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N2 - Krossfjord-Kongsfjord system in the European Arctic has been assessed for abundance, source and distribution of microplastics in the surface sediments. The average abundance of microplastics in Krossfjord and Kongsfjord is 721.42 ± 217.89 (n = 5) pieces/kg and 783 ± 530.28 (n = 8) pieces/kg. Polymers like polyethylene and polypropylene are abundant in the sediment samples. Fibers are the most common shape of plastic particles. A high abundance of smaller plastic particles in the sediment may be due to the fragmentation of larger plastic particles during transportation. The microplastics' spatial distribution, shape, size, and composition suggest that the long-range transport by west Spitsbergen current and local inputs from anthropogenic activities are possible sources of microplastics found in the study area. Our results exhibit the presence of microplastic pollution, suggesting the influence of anthropogenic activity in the Arctic fjord and the need to control/reduce marine pollution which has become a potential threat to marine organisms.

AB - Krossfjord-Kongsfjord system in the European Arctic has been assessed for abundance, source and distribution of microplastics in the surface sediments. The average abundance of microplastics in Krossfjord and Kongsfjord is 721.42 ± 217.89 (n = 5) pieces/kg and 783 ± 530.28 (n = 8) pieces/kg. Polymers like polyethylene and polypropylene are abundant in the sediment samples. Fibers are the most common shape of plastic particles. A high abundance of smaller plastic particles in the sediment may be due to the fragmentation of larger plastic particles during transportation. The microplastics' spatial distribution, shape, size, and composition suggest that the long-range transport by west Spitsbergen current and local inputs from anthropogenic activities are possible sources of microplastics found in the study area. Our results exhibit the presence of microplastic pollution, suggesting the influence of anthropogenic activity in the Arctic fjord and the need to control/reduce marine pollution which has become a potential threat to marine organisms.

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Microplastics in the surface sediments of Krossfjord-Kongsfjord system, Svalbard, Arctic

Abstract

Bibliographical note

UN SDGs

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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