Macrophytes: A Temporary Sink for Microplastics in Transitional Water Systems
1
Department of Chemical, Pharmaceutical and Agricultural Sciences, University of Ferrara, Via Fossato di Mortara 17, 44121 Ferrara, Italy
2
Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, Ca’Foscari University of Venice, Via Torino, 155, 30172 Venezia-Mestre, Italy
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: Jian Liu
Water 2021, 13(21), 3032; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13213032
Received: 27 September 2021
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Revised: 23 October 2021
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Accepted: 26 October 2021
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Published: 29 October 2021
(This article belongs to the Section Biodiversity and Functionality of Aquatic Ecosystems)
Marine macrophytes are hypothesized to be a major temporary sink for microplastics. In this study, microplastic contamination was investigated in 15 macroalgal species and one seagrass from different sites in two lagoons of the northern Adriatic Sea: the Goro lagoon and the Venice lagoon. A high percentage (94%) of the macrophyte samples contained microplastics, ranging from 0.16 to 330 items g−1 fw, with the prevalent size in the range 30–90 µm and an average contamination per unit of fresh weight of 14 items g−1 fw. Microplastic contamination displayed a site-specific, rather than a species-specific, pattern of accumulation. In addition, exopolysaccharides (EPS) displayed a significant positive correlation with the microplastics ononcontamination on macrophytes acting as glue for the plastic particles available in the water column.
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Keywords:
microplastics; macroalgae; seagrasses; Nile red; EPS
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MDPI and ACS Style
Sfriso, A.A.; Tomio, Y.; Juhmani, A.-S.; Sfriso, A.; Munari, C.; Mistri, M. Macrophytes: A Temporary Sink for Microplastics in Transitional Water Systems. Water 2021, 13, 3032. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13213032
AMA Style
Sfriso AA, Tomio Y, Juhmani A-S, Sfriso A, Munari C, Mistri M. Macrophytes: A Temporary Sink for Microplastics in Transitional Water Systems. Water. 2021; 13(21):3032. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13213032
Chicago/Turabian StyleSfriso, Andrea Augusto, Yari Tomio, Abdul-Salam Juhmani, Adriano Sfriso, Cristina Munari, and Michele Mistri. 2021. "Macrophytes: A Temporary Sink for Microplastics in Transitional Water Systems" Water 13, no. 21: 3032. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13213032
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