[Distribution Characteristics of Microplastics in Qingdao Coastal Beaches]

Ya-Dan Luo; Qian-Hui Lin; Fang-Li Jia; Gong-di Xu; Feng-Min Li

doi:10.13227/j.hjkx.201810074

[Distribution Characteristics of Microplastics in Qingdao Coastal Beaches]

Huan Jing Ke Xue. 2019 Jun 8;40(6):2631-2638. doi: 10.13227/j.hjkx.201810074.

[Article in Chinese]

Authors

Ya-Dan Luo^{1

2}, Qian-Hui Lin^{1

2}, Fang-Li Jia^{1

2}, Gong-di Xu^{1

3}, Feng-Min Li^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory on Marine Environment and Ecology of Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China.
² Institute of Coastal Environmental Pollution Control, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China.
³ College of Ecological Environment, Hainan Tropical Ocean University, Sanya 572022, China.

PMID: 31854654
DOI: 10.13227/j.hjkx.201810074

Abstract

Microplastics (MPs, plastic fibers, debris, or particles that are generally smaller than 5 mm in diameter) can serve as carriers for hazardous substances, which are ingested by organisms in the ocean and can affect their growth and metabolism. Moreover, MPs will spread with ocean currents, and MP pollution has become a global problem. In this study, the MP abundance distribution of four typical beaches near the coast of Qingdao was studied by the combination of ordinary microscope and fluorescence microscope methods. In addition, the distribution of MPs collected from various beaches in different particle size ranges, shapes, and chemical compositions was discussed. Abundances on the sea surface varied between 5.05×10³ particles·m^-3 and 1.25×10⁴ particles·m^-3, and the concentration of MPs in sand varied between 1.91×10³ particles·m^-2 and 4.35×10³ particles·m^-2, with no significant differences detected among the four beaches examined. The results show the pervasiveness of MP pollution in coastal environments of Qingdao. The size of particles found in this study ranged from 5 mm to 50 μm, and increases in abundance were detected with the decreasing particle size. Polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), polystyrene (PS), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), 96% polystyrene+4% butadiene copolymer (SB), polymethyl acrylate (PMA), and polyamide (PA) were present in seawater in coastal environments of Qingdao, and compared with the seawater samples, no PA or PMA were found in sand. Research results indicated that fiber was dominant in seawater and sand. MPs in the sand were similar to those in seawater in terms of the particle size, shape, and composition, thus indicating that the seawater and sand of the bathing beaches in Qingdao may have the same pollution sources, e. g., the packaging industry, clothing textile industry, and tourism. This paper studies the distribution and sources of MPs in the bathing beaches of Qingdao, and it provides basic data for research and supervision of environmental MP pollution in Chinese coastal zones.

Keywords: FTIR spectrometer; Qingdao; bathing beach; distribution characteristics; microplastics(MPs).

Publication types

English Abstract