Microplastic fiber pollution

Plastics have been the most environmentally degrading thing mankind has ever created. Since its invention, we had to deal with constant environmental problems around it which affected all aspects ofthe environment. Even when we tried to manage it created its own problems and in this series of problems something so minute missed our eyes and is creating a menace out there in the oceans and water bodies, it is the problem of microplastics. This paper aims at dealing with the problem of Microplastics by proposing a method to remove Microplastics from the water with the help of the triboelectric effect. The triboelectric effect is a type of contact electrification on which certain materialsbecome electrically charged after they are separated from a different material with which they were incontact [1]. With this principle in mind, we focus on ways to charge the Microplastics in water which we can remove with an electrostatic separator. This project ultimately helps in maintaining a healthy aquatic ecosystem and indirectly helps in eliminating the presence of microplastics in the food chain.

Marine ecosystems are experiencing substantial disturbances due to climate change and overfishing, and plastic pollution is an additional growing threat. Microfibres are among the most pervasive pollutants in the marine environment, including in the Southern Ocean. However, evidence for microfibre contamination in the diet of top predators in the Southern Ocean is rare. King Penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) feed on mesopelagic fish, which undergo diel vertical migrations towards the surface at night. Microfibres are concentrated in surface waters and sediments but can also be concentrated in fish, therefore acting as contamination vectors for diving predators feeding at depth. In this study, we investigate microfibre contamination of King Penguin faecal samples collected in February and March 2017 at South Georgia across three groups: incubating, chick-rearing and non-breeding birds. After a KOH digestion to dissolve the organic matter and a density separation step using a NaCl solution, the samples were filtered to collect microfibres. A total of 77% of the penguin faecal samples (36 of 47) contained microfibres. Fibres were measured and characterized using Fourier-Transform Infrared spectroscopy to determine their polymeric identity. Most fibres (88%) were made of natural cellulosic materials (e.g. cotton, linen), with only 12% synthetic (e.g. polyester, nylon) or semi-synthetic (e.g. rayon). An average of 21.9 ± 5.8 microfibres g −1 of faeces (lab dried mass) was found, with concentrations more than twice as high in incubating penguins than in penguins rearing chicks. Incubating birds forage further north at the Antarctic Polar Front and travel longer distances from South Georgia than chick-rearing birds. This suggests that long-distance travelling penguins are probably more exposed to the risk of ingesting microfibres when feeding north of the Antarctic Polar Front, which might act as a semi-permeable barrier for microfibres. Microfibres could therefore provide a signature for foraging location in King Penguins.

Microplastics are causing serious environmental threats worldwide. To evaluate the current state of microplastics pollution, 28 sediment samples were examined for microplastics and plastic debris contamination along
Silver Beach, Southern India. Visual identification followed by FT-IR spectroscopy was used to estimate the overall distribution and characterization of plastic debris. The results reveal that white-colored (44%) and irregularly-shaped (82%) plastics are prevalent in the study area. Moreover, the dominant polymer in the study
area is polyvinyl chloride (79%) followed by polyethylene (14%) and nylon (7%). Based on size fractions, mesoplastics are widely distributed in the beach sediments (65%), followed by microplastics (18%) and macroplastics (17%). The regional sources of plastic debris are tourism and fishing activities followed by storm water
runoff through the Gadilam river and wave-induced deposition through high tides. Strict policy measures need to be implemented in recreational beaches like Silver beach to reduce plastic pollution.

The present study is the first attempt to investigate the occurrence and distribution pattern of microplastics (MPs) in the beach sediments covering a 36 km long beach at Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy was used to identify the MP particles (> 300 μm). The mean abundance of plastics in this study site was 8.1 ± 2.9 particles kg −1. The abundance of MPs in the sediments was found in the following order: Fragments > Fibers > Foams > Beads > Films. The most abundant polymer types were Polypropylene (PP) (47%) and Polyethylene (PE) (23%). Most of the PP was atactic, while the low-density and high-density PE were in the balance. A higher abundance of MPs was observed in the wrack line compared to the other zones across the shore. The designated public tourist spots corresponding to few sampling sites showed significantly (P < 0.05) higher MPs than the sites with no tourist activity.

This study provides the first measurement of microplastic abundance and distribution in surface waters and sediments in Tampa Bay, FL. Microplastic concentrations in discrete water samples ranged from 0.25 to 7.0 particles/L with an average of 0.94 (± 0.52) particles/L. Samples taken with a 330 μm plankton net had 1.2-18.1 particles/m 3 with an average of 4.5 (± 2.3) particles/m 3. Discrete samples were 200 times higher than net samples, suggesting substantial losses or undersampling with the net. For both discrete and plankton tow samples, there were no significant differences in concentrations between stations or regions. Intense rainfall events in the summer always preceded samples with substantially higher counts. Most (> 75%) microplastics were fibers. Using an average value of 1 particle/L, Tampa Bay contains ~4 billion microplastic particles. Surface sediments had an average of 280 (± 290) particles/kg, ranging from 30 to 790 particles/kg. Highest concentrations of microplastics were found in sediments close to industrial sources; lowest values in Middle and Lower Tampa Bay are consistent with shorter residence times.

Microplastic presence in seafood and foodstuff have been documented globally in recent studies. Consequently , human exposure to microplastics through the ingestion of contaminated food is inevitable and pose a risk to food security and human health. In this review, microplastics and related xenobiotics are defined, global evidence of microplastic pollution in seafood is reviewed, the impacts to commercial marine species and food security are discussed, and the current knowledge of its direct effects on human health is reviewed. In addition, limited information regarding food security and scientific gaps are identified. Although microplastics in the marine environment and its effects on marine organisms have been well documented, more research is needed to completely understand the implications of microplastics over food security and human health. Further research must focus on monitoring and eliminating microplastics along the food supply chain and determining the extent to which food security is affected by microplastic pollution.

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are a focal point for the removal of microplastic (MP) particles before they are discharged into aquatic environments. WWTPs are capable of removing substantial quantities of larger MP particles but are inefficient in removing particles with any one dimension of less than 100 μm, with influents and effluents tending to have similar quantities of these smaller particles. As a single WWTP may release >100 billion MP particles annually, collectively WWTPs are significant contributors to the problem of MP pollution of global surface waters. Currently, there are no policies or regulations requiring the removal of MPs during wastewater treatment, but as concern about MP pollution grows, the potential for wastewater technologies to capture particles before they reach surface waters has begun to attract attention. There are promising technologies in various stages of development that may improve the removal of MP particles from wastewater. Better incentivization could speed up the research, development and adoption of innovative practices. This paper describes the current state of knowledge regarding MPs, wastewater and relevant policies that could influence the development and deployment of new technologies within WWTPs. We review existing technologies for capturing very small MP particles and examine new developments that may have the potential to overcome the shortcomings of existing methods. The types of collaborations needed to encourage and incentivize innovation within the wastewater sector are also discussed, specifically strong partnerships among scientific and engineering researchers , industry stakeholders, and policy decision makers.

Marine ecosystems are experiencing substantial disturbances due to climate change and overfishing, and plastic pollution is an additional growing threat. Microfibres are among the most pervasive pollutants in the marine environment, including in the Southern Ocean. However, evidence for microfibre contamination in the diet of top predators in the Southern Ocean is rare. King Penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) feed on mesopelagic fish, which undergo diel vertical migrations towards the surface at night. Microfibres are concentrated in surface waters and sediments but can also be concentrated in fish, therefore acting as contamination vectors for diving predators feeding at depth. In this study, we investigate microfibre contamination of King Penguin faecal samples collected in February and March 2017 at South Georgia across three groups: incubating, chick-rearing and non-breeding birds. After a KOH digestion to dissolve the organic matter and a density separation step using a NaCl solution, the samples were filtered to collect microfibres. A total of 77% of the penguin faecal samples (36 of 47) contained microfibres. Fibres were measured and characterized using Fourier-Transform Infrared spec-troscopy to determine their polymeric identity. Most fibres (88%) were made of natural cellulosic materials (e.g. cotton, linen), with only 12% synthetic (e.g. polyester, nylon) or semi-synthetic (e.g. rayon). An average of 21.9 ± 5.8 microfibres g−1 of faeces (lab dried mass) was found, with concentrations more than twice as high in incubating penguins than in penguins rearing chicks. Incubating birds forage further north at the Antarctic Polar Front and travel longer distances from South Georgia than chick-rearing birds. This suggests that long-distance travelling penguins are probably more exposed to the risk of ingesting microfibres when feeding north of the Antarctic Polar Front, which might act as a semi-permeable barrier for microfibres. Microfibres could therefore provide a signature for foraging location in King Penguins.

Microfibres are one of the most ubiquitous particulate pollutants, occurring in all environmental compartments. They are often assumed to be microplastics, but include natural as well as synthetic textile fibres and are perhaps best treated as a separate class of pollutants given the challenges they pose in terms of identification and contamination. Microfibres have been largely ignored by traditional methods used to sample floating microplastics at sea, which use 300-500 µm mesh nets that are too coarse to sample most textile fibres. There is thus a need for a consistent set of methods for sampling microfibres in seawater. We processed bulk water samples through 0.7-63 µm filters to collect microfibres in three ocean basins. Fibre density increased as mesh size decreased: 20 µm mesh sampled 41% more fibres than 63 µm, and 0.7 µm filters sampled 44% more fibres than 25 µm mesh, but mesh size (20-63 µm) had little effect on the size of fibres retained. Fibre density decreased with sample volume when processed through larger mesh filters, presumably because more fibres were flushed through the filters. Microfibres averaged 2.5 times more abundant at the sea surface than in water sampled 5 m sub-surface. However, the data were noisy; counts of replicate 10-L samples had low repeatability (0.15-0.36; CV = 56%), suggesting that single samples provide only a rough estimate of microfibre abundance. We propose that sampling for microfibres should use a combination of <1 µm and 20-25 µm filters and process multiple samples to offset high within-site variability in microfibre densities.

The number of studies on microplastic accumulation in marine organisms has increased precipitously recently, though information is geographically-skewed and limited in terms of local effects. We characterized microplastic accumulation in oysters (Saccostrea cucullata) along a Bornean coastline, focusing on spatial variation. Comparisons were made between locally-polluted (Brunei Estuarine System, BES) and relatively pristine, open-shore (South China Sea, SCS) coastlines. Sixteen coloured microplastic types were characterized into three shapes (fragments, fibres, pellets). Fragments (74.9%), especially smaller polypropylene black fragments predominated in the samples (<50 μm, 31.7%). Site-specific levels of microplastic accumulation varied from 0.43 to 7.20 particles/g oyster tissue. BES and SCS sites differed qualitatively, indicating limited interaction. In the BES, accumulation was greatest near the predicted source (Bandar) and declined strongly seawards, implying current flow, environmental sequestration (local sinks) and seawater dilution effects. Such local-scale variation in microplastic loading in estuaries cautions against extrapolating from limited sampling.

Giarrizzo, T.; M.C. Andrade, K. Schmid, K.O. Winemiller, M. Ferreira, T. Pegado, D. Chelazzi, A. Cincinelli & P.M. Fearnside. 2019. Amazonia: The new frontier for plastic pollution. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 17(6): 309-310. https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.2071

Microfibres are one of the most ubiquitous particulate pollutants, occurring in all environmental compartments. They are often assumed to be microplastics, but include natural as well as synthetic textile fibres and are perhaps best treated as a separate class of pollutants given the challenges they pose in terms of identification and contamination. Microfibres have been largely ignored by traditional methods used to sample floating microplastics at sea, which use 300-500 µm mesh nets that are too coarse to sample most textile fibres. There is thus a need for a consistent set of methods for sampling microfibres in seawater. We processed bulk water samples through 0.7-63 µm filters to collect microfibres in three ocean basins. Fibre density increased as mesh size decreased: 20 µm mesh sampled 41% more fibres than 63 µm, and 0.7 µm filters sampled 44% more fibres than 25 µm mesh, but mesh size (20-63 µm) had little effect on the size of fibres retained. Fibre density decreased with sample volume when processed through larger mesh filters, presumably because more fibres were flushed through the filters. Microfibres averaged 2.5 times more abundant at the sea surface than in water sampled 5 m sub-surface. However, the data were noisy; counts of replicate 10-L samples had low repeatability (0.15-0.36; CV = 56%), suggesting that single samples provide only a rough estimate of microfibre abundance. We propose that sampling for microfibres should use a combination of &amp;lt;1 µm and 20-25 µm filters and process multiple samples to offset high within-site variability in microfibre densities.

The Mediterranean Sea is one of the most polluted areas of the world with regard to microplastics. However, detailed knowledge about the spatial variability in microplastics abundance and composition is lacking. We present here the result of a large-scale survey of microplastic pollution in Mediterranean surface waters, demonstrating sub-basin scale heterogeneity in the abundance and in the polymeric composition of these floating particles, which is likely the ultimate result of a complex interplay between pollution sources, sinks and residence times of different polymers at sea.

Plastics have been the most environmentally degrading thing mankind has ever created. Since its invention, we had to deal with constant environmental problems around it which affected all aspects ofthe environment. Even when we tried to manage it created its own problems and in this series of problems something so minute missed our eyes and is creating a menace out there in the oceans and water bodies, it is the problem of microplastics. This paper aims at dealing with the problem of Microplastics by proposing a method to remove Microplastics from the water with the help of the triboelectric effect. The triboelectric effect is a type of contact electrification on which certain materialsbecome electrically charged after they are separated from a different material with which they were incontact [1]. With this principle in mind, we focus on ways to charge the Microplastics in water which we can remove with an electrostatic separator. This project ultimately helps in maintaining a healthy aquatic ecosystem and indirectly helps in eliminating the presence of microplastics in the food chain

Microplastics (<5 mm) are ubiquitous in the marine environment and becoming an emerging threat to marine biota. Poorly treated wastewater discharge and plastic pollution are the main sources of microplastic pollution. Microplastics can adsorb toxic chemicals, thus working as a vector for other contaminants. The effects of microplastic ingestion in marine biota are still poorly understood. The aim of the present study was to determine and report the incidence microplastic pollution in Odontesthes regia regia (Humboldt, 1821). O. regia individuals (n = 40) were captured off the coast of Lima and stored at-20 °C until further analysis. Prior to gut extraction, the samples were measured. Microplastic extraction was conducted by digesting O. regia guts (pool of four) in screw cab pyrex test tubes (20 ml) filled with 10% (w/w) potassium hydroxide and heated at 60 °C for 24h. Following digestion, the supernatant solution was vacuum filtrated through fiberglass filter papers and observed under both microscope and stereoscope. To avoid external contamination, gloves and cotton lab coats were worn at all times, plastic materials were avoided, all surfaces were wiped clean and glass materials were rinsed with distillated water. An airborne control black was conducted to determined external contamination. Following a detailed inspection, airborne blank presented no external contamination. The mean fish length was 16.38 ± 0.19 cm. The mean microplastic concentration was 0.43 ± 0.11 MP ind.-1. The most abundant microplastic type were fibers (88.24%), followed by fragments (5.88%) and films (5.88%). Black and blue microplastics were dominant, representing 47.06% and 41.18% respectively. Our results indicate low microplastic incidence in O. regia. It is unlikely that microplastics at low concentrations could cause a significant impact on marine fish survival. Despite this, the exacerbation of plastic pollution could pose a risk to the conservation of marine species.

Environment is in continuous change to serve life in various forms on land and water. The cost of these services result negative changes in environment resulting pollution. It moves to oceans either it is generated inside or outside. Plastic pollution is most irreparable among these. It tends to minimize and stop environmental rich activities. Furthermore it moves towards destruction of physical and biological systems in marine environments. It results ecosystems damage and economy failure.

Neustonic microplastic abundance and polymeric composition were determined after a cruise conducted in the Southern Adriatic Sea between May 9 and 17, 2013. Plankton samples were collected using a neuston net (200 µm mesh size) towed at B2 kts for 5À6 minutes. In the laboratory, plastic particles were hand-picked using a dissecting stereomicroscope, counted, weighed, and assigned to seven different size classes. Because of the high risk of contamination synthetic fibers were removed from our dataset and not considered in density calculations. On a subset of collected particles .700 µm (n 5 869), FT-IR analyses were performed to characterize their polymeric Plastic was found in all samples (n 5 30). A total of 5163 particles were collected during the survey, the vast majority of which were irregular hard plastic fragments (97.4%).

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are a focal point for the removal of microplastic (MP) particles before they are discharged into aquatic environments. WWTPs are capable of removing substantial quantities of larger MP particles but are inefficient in removing particles with any one dimension of less than 100 μm, with influents and effluents tending to have similar quantities of these smaller particles. As a single WWTP may release >100 billion MP particles annually, collectively WWTPs are significant contributors to the problem of MP pollution of global surface waters. Currently, there are no policies or regulations requiring the removal of MPs during wastewater treatment, but as concern about MP pollution grows, the potential for wastewater technologies to capture particles before they reach surface waters has begun to attract attention. There are promising technologies in various stages of development that may improve the removal of MP particles from wastewater. Better incentivization could speed up the research, development and adoption of innovative practices. This paper describes the current state of knowledge regarding MPs, wastewater and relevant policies that could influence the development and deployment of new technologies within WWTPs. We review existing technologies for capturing very small MP particles and examine new developments that may have the potential to overcome the shortcomings of existing methods. The types of collaborations needed to encourage and incentivize innovation within the wastewater sector are also discussed, specifically strong partnerships among scientific and engineering researchers, industry stakeholders, and policy decision makers.

A compact microfiber-based acoustic vibration sensor is demonstrated using microfiber knot resonator (MKR) structure, which is fabricated by flame brushing technique. It is observed that the extinction ratio of the resonant spectrum of the knot resonator is linearly proportional to the vibration amplitude. This is attributed to the interruption of the effective coupling of the MKR which is correlated with the exposed vibration force. It is also shown that the resonant wavelength shifts by about 0.19 nm as the normalized vibration energy is increased from 0 to 10%. The performance of the sensor is then further investigated by monitoring the fast Fourier transform (FFT) of the signal when the MKR is exposed to various vibration frequencies as a narrowband 1545 nm laser is injected into the MKR. In the spectra of the signals, the frequency of the applied vibration is clearly shown as it has the highest magnitude followed by the accompanying harmonics. This holds true for all vibration frequencies. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/mop.27526/abstract 
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A compact inline microfiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MMZI) is proposed for current sensor application. The MMZI is fabricated using flame-brushing technique where both transition parts of a microfiber are tapered to reduce the waist diameter and form an interference region. The fabricated MMZI shows a good interference fringes with a high extinction ratio of 15 dB. The fringe spacing can be tuned from 3.95 nm to 3.36 nm as the length of the interference region is varied from 4.5 mm to 6 mm. The shift in the interference fringes is observed to be linearly proportional to the square of the amount of the flowing current and the slope efficiency of the sensor is obtained at 140.26 pm/A2 with a correlation coefficient of 0.99. Since the refractive index of the fiber core has a different temperature coefficient than that of air, the interferometer can be used as a current sensor by placing the current carrying wire in contact with the waist region of the second part of the tapered fiber. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.

http://ac.els-cdn.com/S0924424712007492/1-s2.0-S0924424712007492-main.pdf?_tid=5936b992-cb69-11e3-abbf-00000aacb361&acdnat=1398314088_19c89522420a70aebd64ed927a4e8c82