Microplastic contamination in the San Francisco Bay, California, USA

MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN

卷:109

Article

Sutton, Rebecca¹  Mason, Sherri A.²  Stanek, Shavonne K.^1,5  Willis-Norton, Ellen^1,6  Wren, Ian F.³  Box, Carolynn⁴ 

[1] San Francisco Estuary Inst, 4911 Cent Ave, Richmond, CA 94804 USA

[2] SUNY Coll Fredonia, 280 Cent Ave,Sci Complex 340, Fredonia, NY 14063 USA

[3] San Francisco Baykeeper, 1736 Franklin St,Suite 800, San Francisco, CA 94612 USA

[4] 5 Gyres Inst, 3131 Olymp Blvd,Suite 302, Santa Monica, CA 90404 USA

[5] Oberlin Coll, Oberlin, OH 44074 USA

[6] Univ Calif Santa Cruz, 100 Shaffer Rd, Santa Cruz, CA 95060 USA

关键词: Plastic pollution;    Marine debris;    San Francisco Bay;    Microplastic;    Microbeads;    Wastewater;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.05.077

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

Despite widespread detection of microplastic pollution in marine environments, data describing microplastic abundance in urban estuaries and microplastic discharge via treated municipal wastewater are limited. This study presents information on abundance, distribution, and composition of microplastic at nine sites in San Francisco Bay, California, USA. Also presented are characterizations of microplastic in final effluent from eight wastewater treatment plants, employing varying treatment technologies, that discharge to the Bay. With an average microplastic abundance of 700,000 particles/km(2), Bay surface water appears to have higher microplastic levels than other urban waterbodies sampled in North America. Moreover, treated wastewater from facilities that discharge into the Bay contains considerable microplastic contamination. Facilities employing tertiary filtration did not show lower levels of contamination than those using secondary treatment. As textile-derived fibers were more abundant in wastewater, higher levels of fragments in surface water suggest additional pathways of microplastic pollution, such as stormwater runoff. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

【 授权许可】

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