Seasonal variation of micro- and meso-plastics in the seawater of Jiaozhou Bay, the Yellow Sea

Liu, Tao; Zhao, Yongfang; Zhu, Mingliang; Liang, Junhua; Zheng, Shan; Sun, Xiaoxia

Seasonal variation of micro- and meso-plastics in the seawater of Jiaozhou Bay, the Yellow Sea

2020

The seasonal change in the concentrations and characteristics of micro- and meso-plastics in the surface seawater of Jiaozhou Bay were studied. The concentrations of micro- and meso-plastics were 0.063, 0.174, 0.094, and 0.050 pieces/m³ in February, May, August and November, respectively, with an annual average concentration of 0.095 pieces/m³. The size of the micro- and meso-plastics ranged from 346 to 155,200 μm, with an average of 5093 ± 43 μm. The overall percentages of fibers, fragments and plastic foams were 29%, 55% and 16%, respectively. The dominant chemical composition was polypropylene (PP), accounting for 51.04% of polymers, followed by polyethylene (PE), accounting for 26.04% of polymers. Strong rainfall resulted in an increase in the plastic concentration in May, and winds and eddies affected the spatial distribution of plastics in Jiaozhou Bay.

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