TY - JOUR
T1 - Seasonal evidences of microplastics in environmental matrices of a tourist dominated urban estuary in Gulf of Mexico, Mexico
AU - Sánchez-Hernández, Lirio Jazmín
AU - Ramírez-Romero, Patricia
AU - Rodríguez-González, Francisco
AU - Ramos-Sánchez, Víctor H.
AU - Márquez Montes, Raúl Antonio
AU - Romero-Paredes Rubio, Hernando
AU - Sujitha, S. B.
AU - Jonathan, M. P.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2021/8
Y1 - 2021/8
N2 - The study evaluated the spatial and seasonal variations of microplastic abundances in water, sediments, and commercial fishes of a semi-urban tourist impacted estuary in the Gulf of Mexico, Mexico. The prevalence of microplastics (MPs) elucidated diffuse sources namely long-range transport, domestic, agricultural, fishing, industrial and recreational activities and the local climatic conditions. Seasonally, the mean abundances of MPs in both water and sediments were high during Nortes (strong winds) followed by the dry and rainy seasons. Overall, black and blue colored MPs dominated the region and all the recovered plastics were fibers. The commercial fishes (n = 187) contained 881 MPs in their gastrointestinal tracts, suggesting that the food web of the estuary is highly prone to microplastic contamination. SEM images of extracted plastic fibers presented surface morphologies that are impacted by physical strains. Further, the elemental characterization of fibers using EDX displayed significant peaks of Al, As, Cl, Cr, Cu, Pb, and Zn that were used as additives during the production of plastics. The main types of polymers included low-density polyethylene, polyester, polypropylene, polycarbonate, rayon, polyvinyl chloride, polyacrylonitrile, polyamide, nylon and polyethylene terephthalate. MP abundances demonstrated in this study elucidate that estuaries are a major conduit for land-derived plastics to the ocean and the results will aid in implementing remedial/clean up actions of the estuary for better conservation of the ecosystem.
AB - The study evaluated the spatial and seasonal variations of microplastic abundances in water, sediments, and commercial fishes of a semi-urban tourist impacted estuary in the Gulf of Mexico, Mexico. The prevalence of microplastics (MPs) elucidated diffuse sources namely long-range transport, domestic, agricultural, fishing, industrial and recreational activities and the local climatic conditions. Seasonally, the mean abundances of MPs in both water and sediments were high during Nortes (strong winds) followed by the dry and rainy seasons. Overall, black and blue colored MPs dominated the region and all the recovered plastics were fibers. The commercial fishes (n = 187) contained 881 MPs in their gastrointestinal tracts, suggesting that the food web of the estuary is highly prone to microplastic contamination. SEM images of extracted plastic fibers presented surface morphologies that are impacted by physical strains. Further, the elemental characterization of fibers using EDX displayed significant peaks of Al, As, Cl, Cr, Cu, Pb, and Zn that were used as additives during the production of plastics. The main types of polymers included low-density polyethylene, polyester, polypropylene, polycarbonate, rayon, polyvinyl chloride, polyacrylonitrile, polyamide, nylon and polyethylene terephthalate. MP abundances demonstrated in this study elucidate that estuaries are a major conduit for land-derived plastics to the ocean and the results will aid in implementing remedial/clean up actions of the estuary for better conservation of the ecosystem.
KW - Beach sediments
KW - Fish
KW - Gulf of Mexico
KW - Microplastics
KW - SEM/EDS
KW - Water
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85103590569&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85103590569&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.130261
DO - 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.130261
M3 - Article
C2 - 34384177
AN - SCOPUS:85103590569
SN - 0045-6535
VL - 277
JO - Chemosphere
JF - Chemosphere
M1 - 130261
ER -