601. Abundance, characteristics and ecological risk assessment of microplastics in ship ballast water in ports around Liaodong Peninsula, China.
- Author
-
Su, Qing, Li, Yuxia, Lu, Na, Qu, Ling, Zhou, Xin, Yu, Yue, Lu, Daping, Han, Junsong, Han, Jianbo, Xu, Xiaotong, and Wang, Xiaomeng
- Subjects
BALLAST water ,ECOLOGICAL risk assessment ,PLASTIC marine debris ,MARITIME shipping ,MARINE pollution ,POLYETHYLENE terephthalate - Abstract
The development of the shipping industry has led to a large volume of ballast water discharge annually. This accelerates pollutants' transfer and dispersion, such as microplastics. Currently, empirical data on microplastics in ballast water are rarely available. This study innovatively investigated the abundance, morphological characteristics (particle size, shape, and color), and polymer composition of microplastics in ballast water from ports surrounding the Liaodong Peninsula. The results revealed that the average abundance of microplastics in 13 ships' ballast water was 6071.30 ± 1313.85 items/m
3 . Notably, the small microplastics (0.06–2.50 mm) were most abundant, accounting for 94.52 % of the total microplastics. Transparent, fiber, and polyethylene glycol terephthalate were the most prevalent color, shape, and polymer composition of microplastics detected in the ballast water. The risk assessment indicated that these microplastics present ecological risks to organisms. These findings suggest that ship ballast water is the potential "hotspot" for marine microplastics transport. [Display omitted] • Investigated the distribution characteristics of MPs in ballast water • The primary size of MPs in ballast water was found within the range of 0.01–2.50 mm. • Transparent and fiber were the most prevalent color and shape in ballast water. • High abundances of MPs were detected in ballast water. • Ballast water could be a potential source of MPs in marine, posing ecological risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF