Post on 16-Dec-2015
Occurrence and potential effects of microplastics in the Belgian coastal area
By:ir. S. De Meester
M. Claessens
Facts
• Growing plastic production:1950: 1.5 million tons per year2006: 245 million tons per year
• The largest part is still being dumped• Worldwide problem: the oceans are connected
Facts
• Growing plastic production:1950: 1.5 million tons2006: 245 million tons
• The largest part is still being dumped• Worldwide problem: the oceans are connected• Of all garbage 60-80% is plastic (macroplastics)
UV + mechanical forces
0 1
Microplastic
Microplastics
• Thompson et al. 2004:“Lost at sea, where is all the plastic”
• Detection of microplastics in sediment and water
• In all following research microplastics were found, but there is no agreement on concentrations
Overview of this research
• Method• Occurrence in the Belgian Coastal area?• Historical trend?• Origin?• Microplastics vs macroplastics?• Potential effects?• Conclusion
Method
•
Koksijde-Bad
•
Groenendijk
•
Nieuwpoort
•
Sandbank
•
Zeebrugge
•
Oostende
Method
Microplastics
Sediment
Saline solution
Taking samples in the Belgian coastal area
Filtration of top layer
Identification with IRStirring sediment in
a saline solution
• Searching for an appropriate method was difficult• Method of Thompson modified (based on density)
Method
0 10 1
0 0.5
0 1
Scale: mm
0 0.5
Fibers
Granules
Plastic films PS spheres
Occurrence (Belgian coastal area)
Fibers Granular Plastic films0
20
40
60
80
100
120
109
8 9
81
4 4
46
61
58
4 0
94
30
2
High-tide markIntertidalSubtidalSandbankBelgian Continental
Num
ber
of p
arti
cles
.kg-
1dry
sed
imen
t
Occurrence (Belgian coastal area)
Fibers Granular Plastic films0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000
82
257
418
61
136
196
35
189
4044
113
13
71
947
94
High-tide markIntertidalSubtidalSandbankBelgian Continental
Conc
entr
ation
mic
ropl
astic
s (µ
g/kg
)
Occurrence (Oostende)
Fibers Granular Polystyrene spherules Plastic films0
20
40
60
80
100
120
77
61
46
2
94
100
77
2
73
24 24
0
46
35
26
2
OO1OO2OO3OO4
Num
ber o
f par
ticle
s.kg
-1dr
y se
dim
ent
Historical trend?
Short-term (Koksijde-Bad)
Fibers Granular Plastic films0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
10085
6 5
76
71
79
62
91
4 3
KBWL-Top layerKBWL-2nd layerKBWL-3th layerKBWL-Deepest layer
Num
ber o
f par
ticle
s.kg
-1dr
y se
dim
ent
Long-term (Groenendijk)
Fibers Granular Plastic films0
102030405060708090
100110120130140 132
10 14
85
8 8
74
8 5
48
5 1
GHWL-Top layerGHWL-2nd layerGHWL-3th layerGHWL-Deepest layer
Nu
mb
er o
f p
arti
cles
.kg-
1dry
sed
imen
t
OriginFibers: Fishery,…
Granular: shipping, sewers, tourists,…Plastic films: tourism, shipping,…
PS spherules: scrubbers in (hand) cleansers: used in harbours. PS sinks: up to 100 spherules/m³
Microplastics vs macroplastics
• Difficult: no unity in research (per m²,kg,…?)Macroplastics: ± 52 – 1179 g/100m²Microplastics: ± 5 – 11 g/100m²
± 1 – 20% of all plastic is microplastics (weight)
More unity & further research needed
Potential effectsPlastic
Pollutant
Potential effectsPlastic
Pollutant
Potential effectsWorst case calculation through equilibrium Microplastics are indeed able to spread the pollution and transfer it
through pore water to organisms Arenicola marina in an otherwise clean environment with contaminated
microplastics can take up 0.0077ng phenanthrene and 0.0706ng PCB per worm
Physical effects?Ingestion?Desorption?…?
Further research needed (experiments)
Conclusion
• Microplastics were found in all samples• The problem seems to be growing• A lot of further research needed:– Effects: physical & chemical experiments– Method needs to be optimized (density + particles
< 30nm)– …