TY - JOUR
T1 - East Asian seas
T2 - A hot spot of pelagic microplastics
AU - Isobe, Atsuhiko
AU - Uchida, Keiichi
AU - Tokai, Tadashi
AU - Iwasaki, Shinsuke
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors sincerely thank Captain Akira Noda, Captain Toshifumi Hayashi, and the officers and crews of the T / V Umitaka-Maru and T / V Shinyo-Maru for their assistance during the field surveys and Ms. Sayaka Yamaguchi for her patience in measuring the small plastic fragments in the laboratory. Thanks are also extended to the journal reviewer for his/her help in improving the manuscript. Part of this research was supported by the Ministry of the Environment, Japan, and the Environmental Research and Technology Development Fund (4-1502) of the Ministry of the Environment.
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - To investigate concentrations of pelagic micro- (<5mm in size) and mesoplastics (>5mm) in the East Asian seas around Japan, field surveys using two vessels were conducted concurrently in summer 2014. The total particle count (pieceskm-2) was computed based on observed concentrations (piecesm-3) of small plastic fragments (both micro- and mesoplastics) collected using neuston nets. The total particle count of microplastics within the study area was 1,720,000pieceskm-2, 16 times greater than in the North Pacific and 27 times greater than in the world oceans. The proportion of mesoplastics increased upstream of the northeastward ocean currents, such that the small plastic fragments collected in the present surveys were considered to have originated in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea southwest of the study area.
AB - To investigate concentrations of pelagic micro- (<5mm in size) and mesoplastics (>5mm) in the East Asian seas around Japan, field surveys using two vessels were conducted concurrently in summer 2014. The total particle count (pieceskm-2) was computed based on observed concentrations (piecesm-3) of small plastic fragments (both micro- and mesoplastics) collected using neuston nets. The total particle count of microplastics within the study area was 1,720,000pieceskm-2, 16 times greater than in the North Pacific and 27 times greater than in the world oceans. The proportion of mesoplastics increased upstream of the northeastward ocean currents, such that the small plastic fragments collected in the present surveys were considered to have originated in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea southwest of the study area.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.10.042
DO - 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.10.042
M3 - Article
C2 - 26522164
AN - SCOPUS:84951139506
SN - 0025-326X
VL - 101
SP - 618
EP - 623
JO - Marine Pollution Bulletin
JF - Marine Pollution Bulletin
IS - 2
ER -