- Email: [email protected]
Plastic litter in sediments from a marine area likely to become protected (Aeolian Archipelago's islands, Tyrrhenian sea)
MPB-07981; No of Pages 4 Marine Pollution Bulletin xxx (2016) xxx–xxx
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Marine Pollution Bulletin journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/marpolbul
Baseline
Plastic litter in sediments from a marine area likely to become protected (Aeolian Archipelago's islands, Tyrrhenian sea) Paolo Fastelli a, Andrea Blašković b, Giulia Bernardi c, Teresa Romeo d, Hrvoje Čižmek b, Franco Andaloro d, Giovanni F. Russo c, Cristiana Guerranti a,⁎, Monia Renzi a a
Bioscience Research Center, Via Aurelia Vecchia 32, 58015 Orbetello, Italy Department of Biology, Rooseveltovtrg 6, 10000, University of Zagreb, Croatia Department of Sciences for the Environment, University of Naples Parthenope, Via A. De Gasperi 5, 80133, Naples, Italy d ISPRA, Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, STS Palermo, Laboratory of Ichthyology and Marine Ecology, Milazzo, Messina, Italy b c
a r t i c l e
i n f o
Article history: Received 26 July 2016 Accepted 22 August 2016 Available online xxxx Keywords: Microplastics Mesoplastics Macroplastics MPA Marine debris Marine strategy framework directive
a b s t r a c t This research aims to define for the first time levels and patterns of different litter groups (macro, meso and microplastics) in sediments from a marine area designed for the institution of a new marine protected area (Aeolian Archipelago, Italy). Microplastics resulted the principal group and found in all samples analyzed, with shape and colours variable between different sampling sites. MPs levels measured in this study are similar to values recorded in harbour sites and lower than reported in Adriatic Sea, while macroplastics levels are notably lower than in harbor sites. Sediment grain-size and island extent resulted not significant in determining levels and distribution of plastic debris among islands. In the future, following the establishment of the MPA in the study area, these basic data will be useful to check for potential protective effects on the levels and distribution of plastic debris. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
In the last decade, an emerging anthropogenic pollution affecting marine environment was discovered: small, plastic litter. Among this class, those with the greatest toxicological importance are the microplastics (MPs, diameter within 5000–1.0 μm) intentionally produced in a small-scaled dimensional range or derived from the fragmentation of macroplastics (macroPs, diameter N 25.0 mm) and mesoplastics (MesoPs 25.0–5.0 mm) (JRC EU, 2013). MPs can accumulate in marine sediments, become available to biota (Fossi et al., 2014) and be transferred along the marine food web (Romeo et al., 2015a). Furthermore, MPs can release plastic additives and could adsorb environmental pollutants on their hydrophobic surface (Pedà et al., 2016). Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), aimed to protect more effectively the marine environment across Europe, listed marine litter as a key descriptor (D10) for good environmental status (GES) determination (EU, 2008), but some EU Countries do not yet include sediment litter monitoring in their routines (Alomar et al., 2016). In spite of this and of the importance of MPs in marine sediments, factors affecting their distribution are not yet completely cleared and at the best of our knowledge no data are reported by the literature on the MPs in sediments samples from Tyrrhenian Sea and from the Aeolian Archipelago (central Mediterranean Sea, south Tyrrhenian Sea). Furthermore, the Aeolian Archipelago has been designated for the establishment of a ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (C. Guerranti).
marine protected area (MPA) (L. 979/82); at the best of our knowledge, MPs baselines in sediments before the institution of a new MPA have never be done, while this data could represent a useful literature base to perform temporal trend analyses after MPA institution and to define its effectiveness on MPs. Considering the frame presented above, the main aim of this study was to define levels and patterns of litter in sediments from the Aeolian Archipelago. Surface sediment samples were collected in triplicates from eight sampling sites located in different islands of the Aeolian Archipelago Table 1 Considered shape, colour and dimensional classes in litter analyses. Abbreviations in brackets. Shape categories
Colour categories
Dimensional classes
Filament (FI) Film (FILM) Fragment (FR) Granule (G) Pellet (P) Foam (FO) Unrecognized plastic piece (UN)
White (W) Clear (C) Red (R) Orange (O) Blue (BE) Black (BK) Gray (GY) Brown (BN) Green (GN) Pink (P) Tan (T) Yellow (Y)
N2.5 cm (MacroPs) 2.5 cm–5.1 mm (MesoPs) 5.0 mm–4.1 mm (C1) 4.0 mm–2.1 mm (C2) 2.0 mm–1.1 mm (C3) 1.0 mm–63 μm (C4)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.08.054 0025-326X/© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Please cite this article as: Fastelli, P., et al., Plastic litter in sediments from a marine area likely to become protected (Aeolian Archipelago's islands, Tyrrhenian sea), Marine Pollution Bulletin (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.08.054
2
P. Fastelli et al. / Marine Pollution Bulletin xxx (2016) xxx–xxx
Table 2 Number of litter recovered in sediment, expressed as total number of each litter classes recovered per kg d.w. of sediment for each island (mean ± SD). Island
B Alicudi Filicudi Vulcano Lipari Panarea Stromboli Salina
Macro Ps
0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.8 ± 4.3
Meso Ps
23.9 ± 3.9 25.1 ± 35.9 20.4 ± 22.5 46.4 ± 36.9 22.3 ± 13 11.9 ± 7.8 14.7 ± 11.9
MPs Total
C1
C2
C3
C4
347.9 ± 87.4 186.2 ± 161.1 534.8 ± 24.3 678.7 ± 345.8 484.2 ± 124.4 151.0 ± 34.0 219.1 ± 198.7
28.1 ± 7.3 15.5 ± 15.1 36.3 ± 1.6 28.8 ± 14.3 17.1 ± 4.3 2.6 ± 0.9 9.7 ± 5.9
143.1 ± 43.9 49.7 ± 47.2 126.9 ± 6.2 271.9 ± 113.4 113.9 ± 34.2 53.0 ± 12.4 43.7 ± 36.4
81.4 ± 23.9 46.5 ± 42.3 145.0 ± 7.2 156.8 ± 102.4 119.6 ± 33.9 42.4 ± 13.5 87.3 ± 88.3
95.4 ± 29.4 72.9 ± 72.6 226.6 ± 11.3 219.6 ± 124.1 233.5 ± 58.2 53.0 ± 14.3 78.5 ± 68.1
(38° 29′ 36″ N 14° 55′ 31″ E) (Lipari, Vulcano, Salina, Stromboli, Panarea, Filicudi, Alicudi and other smaller islets). Undisturbed sediment (5 cm depth) was collected at − 30 m by scientific scuba divers, using wide
mouth glass jars. All replicates were taken approximately within a radius of 1 m and collected samples were stored frozen at −15 °C until analyses (Galgani et al., 2013 adapted).
Fig. 1. Shapes and colours fingerprints of Aeolian Islands MPs in sediments. Panel A. Average values of different MPs shapes. Five different classes of MPs shapes for each sampling sites is reporteds as average (n = 3) value (n./kg d.w.) expressed as percentage of the total number of MPs collected in each sampling site. Panel B. Average number of MPs grouped by colours in each island. Data are reported as number/kg d.w. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
Please cite this article as: Fastelli, P., et al., Plastic litter in sediments from a marine area likely to become protected (Aeolian Archipelago's islands, Tyrrhenian sea), Marine Pollution Bulletin (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.08.054
P. Fastelli et al. / Marine Pollution Bulletin xxx (2016) xxx–xxx
3
Fig. 2. Data comparison (Ng and Obbard, 2006; Claessens et al., 2011; Liebezeit and Dubaish, 2012; Laglbauer et al., 2013; Van Cauweberghe et al., 2013; Vianello et al., 2013; Dekiff et al., 2014; Nor and Obbard, 2014; Romeo et al., 2015b) for sediment content of MPs (items/Kg dry sediment).
Laboratory analyses were performed according to Galgani et al. (2013) adapted. Samples were dried at 60 °C for 24 h and sieved with 4 mm, 2 mm, 1 mm and 63 μm certified ASTM steel sieves. Sieved fractions were weighted for grain size determination and separately analysed for the MPs identification. The fraction retained on the 4 mm, 2 mm and 1 mm sieves were analysed by stereomicroscopy (816×). Sediment fraction retained by 63 μm sieve was extracted with saturated NaCl solution; the supernatant, which contains the plastic items, was transferred into a filtrating system, consisting in filtration glass set, filter paper fibres, vacuum pump, manifold and funnel. The separation was repeated three times with each sample and filtered in a single filter to increase recovery efficiency. Before the optical analysis (16-56×) the filter was stored in a glass Petri dish and dried at 60 °C for few minutes. The plastic items were collected with micro tweezers and stored in Eppendorf tubes filled with distilled water. All identified items were divided in seven shape categories, twelve colour categories and seven dimensional classes (Table 1). Dimensional measurement was performed by a millimetre graph paper. Quality controls and quality assurance were assured by checking all the filters by the four-eyes approach and by an inter-calibration process performed between two operators; in order to minimise accidental contaminations, only glass materials and cotton dresses were used by operators and to treat samples and tests were performed on blanks. Filters (n = 3) were left overnight exposed to the laboratory air, putting them on the desk on an opened glass Petri dish. After that, filters were treated with 200 mL of the saturated NaCl solution and checked by the four-eyes approach to detect MPs. All blanks analysed resulted free from MPs. Litter classification criteria was those indicated in the Guidance on Monitoring of Marine Litter in European Seas (JRC EU, 2013) adapted. Shape and colour categories (Table 1) were decided according to Galgani et al. (2013) and the dimensional classes (Table 1) were decided according to Alomar et al. (2016). Sediments were classified following the Udden-Wentworth grainsize classification, in order to gauge the link between the grain-size and MPs concentration through statistical analyses. Statistics was performed on the whole dataset to evaluate relationships among variables (grain size of sediments expressed in % for classes and islands' surface) and levels and patterns of plastic debris in sediments from the different sampling stations as well as to verify the significance of differences among islands. In analysed sediment about 94.3% of the total number of plastic debris determined were MPs that represents, considering the number of
items found, the dominant class of litter recovered in the sediments from the Aeolian Archipelago (Table 2). For better highlight morphological results, MPs were assembled in three main groups: filaments (FI), films (FILM) and other MPs (fragment, pellet, granule, foam and unrecognized plastic pieces). N85.0% of the identified MPs were filaments (Fig. 1A). According to colour, green and black were the most represented (20% and 28%), while white, clear, red, blue and pink were found approximately in the same percentage (about 10% of the total number of debris) (Fig. 1B). Concerning MPs class of dimensions, MPs were sized according to four dimensional classes (C1−C4, Table 1) that accounted respectively for the 5.09%, 27.64%, 26.92% and 40.35% of the average of total MPs recovered in tested sediments. About 94.8% of recovered MPs was found in the 1.000–0.063 mm, 5.02% was recovered in 2.0–1.0 mm sieves diameter range, while only 0.15% was recovered for N2.0 mm diameter sieves. Given the large variety of sampling techniques, data expression and sediment types considered (for depth of sampling, for example), as well as considering the fact that the topic of marine plastic litter was developed in relatively recent times, it is difficult to assess the meaning of the results. A limited number of actually comparable results emerges from a review of the scientific literature; these are reported, together with the range obtained for the MPs in this study, in Fig. 2. The comparison performed, although with the limitation illustrated above, resulted in a medium to high range of contamination by MPs, for the Aeolian. MacroPs levels recorded in this study are notably lower than values recorded in harbour sites as well as Malta (Romeo et al., 2015b), Belgium (Claessens et al., 2011) and India (Reddy et al., 2006). On a general basis, the absence of significative differences between islands suggests that transport dynamics shunting plastic pollution from contiguous areas affect Aeolian Archipelago Island rather than local pollution inputs. On the other hand, recent eruption involving the islands (Bosman et al., 2014) together with the peculiar currents could have contributed to a rapid mixing of the surface bottom sediment, hiding potential local sources of plastic debris pollution. Results obtained in this study are consistent with literature evidencing the absence of relationship among MPs abundances and silt percentages in sediments (Romeo et al., 2015b). Further studies should be performed to evaluate relations among MPs recovered in sediments and trace elements or organic pollutants and better clarify the bioavailability for trophic webs of MPs measured
Please cite this article as: Fastelli, P., et al., Plastic litter in sediments from a marine area likely to become protected (Aeolian Archipelago's islands, Tyrrhenian sea), Marine Pollution Bulletin (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.08.054
4
P. Fastelli et al. / Marine Pollution Bulletin xxx (2016) xxx–xxx
in sediments, since recent literature evidence a positive correlation between Shannon diversity index and MPs, suggesting a possible use as a substrate by many benthic species (Romeo et al., 2015b). Acknowledgments Authors are grateful to the Coast Guard of Salina, for the local authorizations, Muciara Diving Center, for having supported sampling activities, and Dr. Tea Francesca Price (The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Communication, Arizona State University, USA) for the language revision on the paper. References Alomar, C., Estarellas, F., Deudero, S., 2016. Microplastics in the Mediterranean Sea: deposition in coastal shallow sediments, spatial variation and preferential grain size. Mar. Environ. Res. 115, 1–10. Bosman, A., Casalbore, D., Romagnoli, C., Chiocci, F.L., 2014. Formation of an ‘a’ā lava delta: insights from time-lapse multibeam bathymetry and direct observations during the Stromboli 2007 eruption. Bulletin of Vulcanology 76, 1–12. Claessens, M., Meester, S.D., Landuyt, L.V., Clerck, K.D., Janssen, C.R., 2011. Occurrence and distribution of microplastics in marine sediments along the Belgian coast. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 62, 2199–2204. Dekiff, J.H., Remy, D., Klasmeier, J., Fries, E., 2014. Occurrence and spatial distribution of microplastics in sediments from Norderney. Environ. Pollut. 186, 248–256. EU, 2008. Directive 2008/56/EC of the European Parliament and of the council of 17 June 2008. Off. J. Eur. Union L 164, 19–40. Fossi, M.C., Coppola, D., Baini, M., Giannetti, M., Guerranti, C., Marsili, L., Panti, C., de Sabata, E., Clò, S., 2014. Large filter feeding marine organisms as indicators of microplastic in the pelagic environment: the case studies of the Mediterranean basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) and fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus). Mar. Environ. Res. 100, 17–24. Galgani, F., Hanke, G., Werner, S., Oosterbaan, L., Nilsson, P., Fleet, D., Kinsey, S., Thompson R.C., VanFraneker, J., Vlachogianni, T., Scoullos, M.,Veiga, J.M., Palatinus, A., Matiddi M., Maes, T.,
Korpinen, S., Budziak, A., Leslie, H., Gago, H., Liebezeit, G. (2013). Guidance on monitoring of marine litter in European seas. EUR – Scientific and Technical Research Series – ISSN 18319424 (online), Publisher: Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, Editor: Hanke G, Werner S, Galgani F, Veiga, JM, Ferreira M, (ISBN: 978-92-79-32709-4). Joint Research Centre, EC, 2013. Guidance on monitoring of marine litter in European seas. MSFD technical subgroup on marine litter. JRC Scientific and Policy Reports. http://dx.doi. org/10.2788/99475. Laglbauer, B.J.L., Melo, R., Andreu-Cazenave, M.F.-S., Brunelli, L., Papadatou, M., Palatinus, A., Grego, M., Deprez, T., 2014. Macrodebris and microplastics from beaches in Slovenia. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 89, 356–366. Liebezeit, G., Dubaish, F., 2012. Microplastics in beaches of the east Frisian Islands Spiekeroog and Kachelotplate. Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 89, 213–217. Ng, K.L., Obbard, J.P., 2006. Prevalence of microplastics in Singapore's coastal marine environment. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 52, 761–767. Nor, N.H.M., Obbard, J.P., 2014. Microplastics in Singapore's coastal mangrove ecosystems. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 79, 278–283. Pedà, C., Caccamo, L., Fossi, M.C., Gai, F., Genovese, L., Perdichizzi, A., Andaloro, F., Romeo, T., Maricchiolo, G., 2016. Intestinal alterations in European sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax (Linnaeus, 1758) exposed to microplastics: preliminary results. Environ. Pollut. 212, 251–256. Reddy, S.M., Basha, S., Adimurthy, S., Ramachandraiah, G., 2006. Description of small plastics fragments in marine sediments along the Alang-Sosiya ship-breaking yard, India. Estuar. Coast. Shelf Sci. 68, 656–660. Romeo, T., Battaglia, P., Pedà, C., Consoli, P., Andaloro, F., Fossi, M.C., 2015a. First evidence of presence of plastic debris in stomach of large pelagic fish in the Mediterranean Sea. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 95, 358–361. Romeo, T., D'Alessandro, M., Esposito, V., Scotti, G., Berto, D., Formalewicz, M., Noventa, S., Giuliani, S., Macchia, S., Sartori, D., Mazzola, A., Andaloro, F., Giacobbe, S., Deidun, A., Renzi, M., 2015b. Environmental quality assessment of Grand Harbour (Valletta, Maltese Islands): a case study of a busy harbour in the Central Mediterranean Sea. Environ. Monit. Assess. 187, 4950–4953. Van Cauwenberghe, L., Vanreusel, A., Janssen, C.R., 2013. Microplastic pollution in deep-sea sediments. Environ. Pollut. 182, 495–499. Vianello, A., Boldrin, A., Guerriero, P., Moschino, V., Rella, R., Sturaro, A., Da Ros, L., 2013. Pressures, stresses, shocks and trends in estuarine ecosystems. Microplastic particles in sediments of lagoon of Venice, Italy: first observations on occurrence, spatial patterns and identification. Estuarine. Coastal and Shelf Science 130, 54–61.
Please cite this article as: Fastelli, P., et al., Plastic litter in sediments from a marine area likely to become protected (Aeolian Archipelago's islands, Tyrrhenian sea), Marine Pollution Bulletin (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.08.054
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Marine Pollution Bulletin journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/marpolbul
Baseline
Plastic litter in sediments from a marine area likely to become protected (Aeolian Archipelago's islands, Tyrrhenian sea) Paolo Fastelli a, Andrea Blašković b, Giulia Bernardi c, Teresa Romeo d, Hrvoje Čižmek b, Franco Andaloro d, Giovanni F. Russo c, Cristiana Guerranti a,⁎, Monia Renzi a a
Bioscience Research Center, Via Aurelia Vecchia 32, 58015 Orbetello, Italy Department of Biology, Rooseveltovtrg 6, 10000, University of Zagreb, Croatia Department of Sciences for the Environment, University of Naples Parthenope, Via A. De Gasperi 5, 80133, Naples, Italy d ISPRA, Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, STS Palermo, Laboratory of Ichthyology and Marine Ecology, Milazzo, Messina, Italy b c
a r t i c l e
i n f o
Article history: Received 26 July 2016 Accepted 22 August 2016 Available online xxxx Keywords: Microplastics Mesoplastics Macroplastics MPA Marine debris Marine strategy framework directive
a b s t r a c t This research aims to define for the first time levels and patterns of different litter groups (macro, meso and microplastics) in sediments from a marine area designed for the institution of a new marine protected area (Aeolian Archipelago, Italy). Microplastics resulted the principal group and found in all samples analyzed, with shape and colours variable between different sampling sites. MPs levels measured in this study are similar to values recorded in harbour sites and lower than reported in Adriatic Sea, while macroplastics levels are notably lower than in harbor sites. Sediment grain-size and island extent resulted not significant in determining levels and distribution of plastic debris among islands. In the future, following the establishment of the MPA in the study area, these basic data will be useful to check for potential protective effects on the levels and distribution of plastic debris. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
In the last decade, an emerging anthropogenic pollution affecting marine environment was discovered: small, plastic litter. Among this class, those with the greatest toxicological importance are the microplastics (MPs, diameter within 5000–1.0 μm) intentionally produced in a small-scaled dimensional range or derived from the fragmentation of macroplastics (macroPs, diameter N 25.0 mm) and mesoplastics (MesoPs 25.0–5.0 mm) (JRC EU, 2013). MPs can accumulate in marine sediments, become available to biota (Fossi et al., 2014) and be transferred along the marine food web (Romeo et al., 2015a). Furthermore, MPs can release plastic additives and could adsorb environmental pollutants on their hydrophobic surface (Pedà et al., 2016). Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), aimed to protect more effectively the marine environment across Europe, listed marine litter as a key descriptor (D10) for good environmental status (GES) determination (EU, 2008), but some EU Countries do not yet include sediment litter monitoring in their routines (Alomar et al., 2016). In spite of this and of the importance of MPs in marine sediments, factors affecting their distribution are not yet completely cleared and at the best of our knowledge no data are reported by the literature on the MPs in sediments samples from Tyrrhenian Sea and from the Aeolian Archipelago (central Mediterranean Sea, south Tyrrhenian Sea). Furthermore, the Aeolian Archipelago has been designated for the establishment of a ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (C. Guerranti).
marine protected area (MPA) (L. 979/82); at the best of our knowledge, MPs baselines in sediments before the institution of a new MPA have never be done, while this data could represent a useful literature base to perform temporal trend analyses after MPA institution and to define its effectiveness on MPs. Considering the frame presented above, the main aim of this study was to define levels and patterns of litter in sediments from the Aeolian Archipelago. Surface sediment samples were collected in triplicates from eight sampling sites located in different islands of the Aeolian Archipelago Table 1 Considered shape, colour and dimensional classes in litter analyses. Abbreviations in brackets. Shape categories
Colour categories
Dimensional classes
Filament (FI) Film (FILM) Fragment (FR) Granule (G) Pellet (P) Foam (FO) Unrecognized plastic piece (UN)
White (W) Clear (C) Red (R) Orange (O) Blue (BE) Black (BK) Gray (GY) Brown (BN) Green (GN) Pink (P) Tan (T) Yellow (Y)
N2.5 cm (MacroPs) 2.5 cm–5.1 mm (MesoPs) 5.0 mm–4.1 mm (C1) 4.0 mm–2.1 mm (C2) 2.0 mm–1.1 mm (C3) 1.0 mm–63 μm (C4)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.08.054 0025-326X/© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Please cite this article as: Fastelli, P., et al., Plastic litter in sediments from a marine area likely to become protected (Aeolian Archipelago's islands, Tyrrhenian sea), Marine Pollution Bulletin (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.08.054
2
P. Fastelli et al. / Marine Pollution Bulletin xxx (2016) xxx–xxx
Table 2 Number of litter recovered in sediment, expressed as total number of each litter classes recovered per kg d.w. of sediment for each island (mean ± SD). Island
B Alicudi Filicudi Vulcano Lipari Panarea Stromboli Salina
Macro Ps
0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.8 ± 4.3
Meso Ps
23.9 ± 3.9 25.1 ± 35.9 20.4 ± 22.5 46.4 ± 36.9 22.3 ± 13 11.9 ± 7.8 14.7 ± 11.9
MPs Total
C1
C2
C3
C4
347.9 ± 87.4 186.2 ± 161.1 534.8 ± 24.3 678.7 ± 345.8 484.2 ± 124.4 151.0 ± 34.0 219.1 ± 198.7
28.1 ± 7.3 15.5 ± 15.1 36.3 ± 1.6 28.8 ± 14.3 17.1 ± 4.3 2.6 ± 0.9 9.7 ± 5.9
143.1 ± 43.9 49.7 ± 47.2 126.9 ± 6.2 271.9 ± 113.4 113.9 ± 34.2 53.0 ± 12.4 43.7 ± 36.4
81.4 ± 23.9 46.5 ± 42.3 145.0 ± 7.2 156.8 ± 102.4 119.6 ± 33.9 42.4 ± 13.5 87.3 ± 88.3
95.4 ± 29.4 72.9 ± 72.6 226.6 ± 11.3 219.6 ± 124.1 233.5 ± 58.2 53.0 ± 14.3 78.5 ± 68.1
(38° 29′ 36″ N 14° 55′ 31″ E) (Lipari, Vulcano, Salina, Stromboli, Panarea, Filicudi, Alicudi and other smaller islets). Undisturbed sediment (5 cm depth) was collected at − 30 m by scientific scuba divers, using wide
mouth glass jars. All replicates were taken approximately within a radius of 1 m and collected samples were stored frozen at −15 °C until analyses (Galgani et al., 2013 adapted).
Fig. 1. Shapes and colours fingerprints of Aeolian Islands MPs in sediments. Panel A. Average values of different MPs shapes. Five different classes of MPs shapes for each sampling sites is reporteds as average (n = 3) value (n./kg d.w.) expressed as percentage of the total number of MPs collected in each sampling site. Panel B. Average number of MPs grouped by colours in each island. Data are reported as number/kg d.w. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
Please cite this article as: Fastelli, P., et al., Plastic litter in sediments from a marine area likely to become protected (Aeolian Archipelago's islands, Tyrrhenian sea), Marine Pollution Bulletin (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.08.054
P. Fastelli et al. / Marine Pollution Bulletin xxx (2016) xxx–xxx
3
Fig. 2. Data comparison (Ng and Obbard, 2006; Claessens et al., 2011; Liebezeit and Dubaish, 2012; Laglbauer et al., 2013; Van Cauweberghe et al., 2013; Vianello et al., 2013; Dekiff et al., 2014; Nor and Obbard, 2014; Romeo et al., 2015b) for sediment content of MPs (items/Kg dry sediment).
Laboratory analyses were performed according to Galgani et al. (2013) adapted. Samples were dried at 60 °C for 24 h and sieved with 4 mm, 2 mm, 1 mm and 63 μm certified ASTM steel sieves. Sieved fractions were weighted for grain size determination and separately analysed for the MPs identification. The fraction retained on the 4 mm, 2 mm and 1 mm sieves were analysed by stereomicroscopy (816×). Sediment fraction retained by 63 μm sieve was extracted with saturated NaCl solution; the supernatant, which contains the plastic items, was transferred into a filtrating system, consisting in filtration glass set, filter paper fibres, vacuum pump, manifold and funnel. The separation was repeated three times with each sample and filtered in a single filter to increase recovery efficiency. Before the optical analysis (16-56×) the filter was stored in a glass Petri dish and dried at 60 °C for few minutes. The plastic items were collected with micro tweezers and stored in Eppendorf tubes filled with distilled water. All identified items were divided in seven shape categories, twelve colour categories and seven dimensional classes (Table 1). Dimensional measurement was performed by a millimetre graph paper. Quality controls and quality assurance were assured by checking all the filters by the four-eyes approach and by an inter-calibration process performed between two operators; in order to minimise accidental contaminations, only glass materials and cotton dresses were used by operators and to treat samples and tests were performed on blanks. Filters (n = 3) were left overnight exposed to the laboratory air, putting them on the desk on an opened glass Petri dish. After that, filters were treated with 200 mL of the saturated NaCl solution and checked by the four-eyes approach to detect MPs. All blanks analysed resulted free from MPs. Litter classification criteria was those indicated in the Guidance on Monitoring of Marine Litter in European Seas (JRC EU, 2013) adapted. Shape and colour categories (Table 1) were decided according to Galgani et al. (2013) and the dimensional classes (Table 1) were decided according to Alomar et al. (2016). Sediments were classified following the Udden-Wentworth grainsize classification, in order to gauge the link between the grain-size and MPs concentration through statistical analyses. Statistics was performed on the whole dataset to evaluate relationships among variables (grain size of sediments expressed in % for classes and islands' surface) and levels and patterns of plastic debris in sediments from the different sampling stations as well as to verify the significance of differences among islands. In analysed sediment about 94.3% of the total number of plastic debris determined were MPs that represents, considering the number of
items found, the dominant class of litter recovered in the sediments from the Aeolian Archipelago (Table 2). For better highlight morphological results, MPs were assembled in three main groups: filaments (FI), films (FILM) and other MPs (fragment, pellet, granule, foam and unrecognized plastic pieces). N85.0% of the identified MPs were filaments (Fig. 1A). According to colour, green and black were the most represented (20% and 28%), while white, clear, red, blue and pink were found approximately in the same percentage (about 10% of the total number of debris) (Fig. 1B). Concerning MPs class of dimensions, MPs were sized according to four dimensional classes (C1−C4, Table 1) that accounted respectively for the 5.09%, 27.64%, 26.92% and 40.35% of the average of total MPs recovered in tested sediments. About 94.8% of recovered MPs was found in the 1.000–0.063 mm, 5.02% was recovered in 2.0–1.0 mm sieves diameter range, while only 0.15% was recovered for N2.0 mm diameter sieves. Given the large variety of sampling techniques, data expression and sediment types considered (for depth of sampling, for example), as well as considering the fact that the topic of marine plastic litter was developed in relatively recent times, it is difficult to assess the meaning of the results. A limited number of actually comparable results emerges from a review of the scientific literature; these are reported, together with the range obtained for the MPs in this study, in Fig. 2. The comparison performed, although with the limitation illustrated above, resulted in a medium to high range of contamination by MPs, for the Aeolian. MacroPs levels recorded in this study are notably lower than values recorded in harbour sites as well as Malta (Romeo et al., 2015b), Belgium (Claessens et al., 2011) and India (Reddy et al., 2006). On a general basis, the absence of significative differences between islands suggests that transport dynamics shunting plastic pollution from contiguous areas affect Aeolian Archipelago Island rather than local pollution inputs. On the other hand, recent eruption involving the islands (Bosman et al., 2014) together with the peculiar currents could have contributed to a rapid mixing of the surface bottom sediment, hiding potential local sources of plastic debris pollution. Results obtained in this study are consistent with literature evidencing the absence of relationship among MPs abundances and silt percentages in sediments (Romeo et al., 2015b). Further studies should be performed to evaluate relations among MPs recovered in sediments and trace elements or organic pollutants and better clarify the bioavailability for trophic webs of MPs measured
Please cite this article as: Fastelli, P., et al., Plastic litter in sediments from a marine area likely to become protected (Aeolian Archipelago's islands, Tyrrhenian sea), Marine Pollution Bulletin (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.08.054
4
P. Fastelli et al. / Marine Pollution Bulletin xxx (2016) xxx–xxx
in sediments, since recent literature evidence a positive correlation between Shannon diversity index and MPs, suggesting a possible use as a substrate by many benthic species (Romeo et al., 2015b). Acknowledgments Authors are grateful to the Coast Guard of Salina, for the local authorizations, Muciara Diving Center, for having supported sampling activities, and Dr. Tea Francesca Price (The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Communication, Arizona State University, USA) for the language revision on the paper. References Alomar, C., Estarellas, F., Deudero, S., 2016. Microplastics in the Mediterranean Sea: deposition in coastal shallow sediments, spatial variation and preferential grain size. Mar. Environ. Res. 115, 1–10. Bosman, A., Casalbore, D., Romagnoli, C., Chiocci, F.L., 2014. Formation of an ‘a’ā lava delta: insights from time-lapse multibeam bathymetry and direct observations during the Stromboli 2007 eruption. Bulletin of Vulcanology 76, 1–12. Claessens, M., Meester, S.D., Landuyt, L.V., Clerck, K.D., Janssen, C.R., 2011. Occurrence and distribution of microplastics in marine sediments along the Belgian coast. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 62, 2199–2204. Dekiff, J.H., Remy, D., Klasmeier, J., Fries, E., 2014. Occurrence and spatial distribution of microplastics in sediments from Norderney. Environ. Pollut. 186, 248–256. EU, 2008. Directive 2008/56/EC of the European Parliament and of the council of 17 June 2008. Off. J. Eur. Union L 164, 19–40. Fossi, M.C., Coppola, D., Baini, M., Giannetti, M., Guerranti, C., Marsili, L., Panti, C., de Sabata, E., Clò, S., 2014. Large filter feeding marine organisms as indicators of microplastic in the pelagic environment: the case studies of the Mediterranean basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) and fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus). Mar. Environ. Res. 100, 17–24. Galgani, F., Hanke, G., Werner, S., Oosterbaan, L., Nilsson, P., Fleet, D., Kinsey, S., Thompson R.C., VanFraneker, J., Vlachogianni, T., Scoullos, M.,Veiga, J.M., Palatinus, A., Matiddi M., Maes, T.,
Korpinen, S., Budziak, A., Leslie, H., Gago, H., Liebezeit, G. (2013). Guidance on monitoring of marine litter in European seas. EUR – Scientific and Technical Research Series – ISSN 18319424 (online), Publisher: Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, Editor: Hanke G, Werner S, Galgani F, Veiga, JM, Ferreira M, (ISBN: 978-92-79-32709-4). Joint Research Centre, EC, 2013. Guidance on monitoring of marine litter in European seas. MSFD technical subgroup on marine litter. JRC Scientific and Policy Reports. http://dx.doi. org/10.2788/99475. Laglbauer, B.J.L., Melo, R., Andreu-Cazenave, M.F.-S., Brunelli, L., Papadatou, M., Palatinus, A., Grego, M., Deprez, T., 2014. Macrodebris and microplastics from beaches in Slovenia. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 89, 356–366. Liebezeit, G., Dubaish, F., 2012. Microplastics in beaches of the east Frisian Islands Spiekeroog and Kachelotplate. Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 89, 213–217. Ng, K.L., Obbard, J.P., 2006. Prevalence of microplastics in Singapore's coastal marine environment. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 52, 761–767. Nor, N.H.M., Obbard, J.P., 2014. Microplastics in Singapore's coastal mangrove ecosystems. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 79, 278–283. Pedà, C., Caccamo, L., Fossi, M.C., Gai, F., Genovese, L., Perdichizzi, A., Andaloro, F., Romeo, T., Maricchiolo, G., 2016. Intestinal alterations in European sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax (Linnaeus, 1758) exposed to microplastics: preliminary results. Environ. Pollut. 212, 251–256. Reddy, S.M., Basha, S., Adimurthy, S., Ramachandraiah, G., 2006. Description of small plastics fragments in marine sediments along the Alang-Sosiya ship-breaking yard, India. Estuar. Coast. Shelf Sci. 68, 656–660. Romeo, T., Battaglia, P., Pedà, C., Consoli, P., Andaloro, F., Fossi, M.C., 2015a. First evidence of presence of plastic debris in stomach of large pelagic fish in the Mediterranean Sea. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 95, 358–361. Romeo, T., D'Alessandro, M., Esposito, V., Scotti, G., Berto, D., Formalewicz, M., Noventa, S., Giuliani, S., Macchia, S., Sartori, D., Mazzola, A., Andaloro, F., Giacobbe, S., Deidun, A., Renzi, M., 2015b. Environmental quality assessment of Grand Harbour (Valletta, Maltese Islands): a case study of a busy harbour in the Central Mediterranean Sea. Environ. Monit. Assess. 187, 4950–4953. Van Cauwenberghe, L., Vanreusel, A., Janssen, C.R., 2013. Microplastic pollution in deep-sea sediments. Environ. Pollut. 182, 495–499. Vianello, A., Boldrin, A., Guerriero, P., Moschino, V., Rella, R., Sturaro, A., Da Ros, L., 2013. Pressures, stresses, shocks and trends in estuarine ecosystems. Microplastic particles in sediments of lagoon of Venice, Italy: first observations on occurrence, spatial patterns and identification. Estuarine. Coastal and Shelf Science 130, 54–61.
Please cite this article as: Fastelli, P., et al., Plastic litter in sediments from a marine area likely to become protected (Aeolian Archipelago's islands, Tyrrhenian sea), Marine Pollution Bulletin (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.08.054