MICROPLASTICS...did we find microplastics in the Antarctic? what happens when a copepod eats plastic?

In the news, people are finally talking about microplastics. Talking about it and having knowledge about what needs to change is a start and scientists need to gather and share data about what they find. This usually takes the form of a research paper, published through online journals such as Marine Pollution Bulletin, they all have a very strict format. Especially on et al. layouts...

The other thing is, *shock* its not just principal investigators or people with PhDs that publish papers as a second author or as a primary author! If you want to you can find a way...the science world is very restrictive, especially for technicians but you just need to find a way to make those barricades work for you and your institute, which at the time was BAS and it didn't even cross their mind to question whether I should be publishing! I was stuck on a ship for 2 months with the transport aquarium so I did have lots of time to pull this all together.

Here it is!

When I first started at BAS, I realised that microplastics we're becoming more prevalent. Likely because I was taught by Richard Thompson who wrote the first papers on microplastics and also defined this term. I knew there might be times at Rothera when we wouldn't be able to get out and about to do science due to the weather and sea ice. So I wanted my own research project to work out...have they reached Antarctica yet?!? I wanted to research and see if there were any microplastics around Rothera research station. Dr Kevin Hughes on the environmental team at BAS was super keen to help and managers to secure me a small amount of funding to buy bottles in order to collect the samples, I had also bumped into Richard Thomson at Plymouth Uni where I asked him if I could use their FTIR machine to analysts the samples. He said yes...from there I put a post out to the Plymouth Marine biology network page that I had started when I was at Plymouth uni and asked if anyone was keen to analyse the samples for me if I collected them and sent them out on the ship whilst I stayed for winter. Marlon Clark was keen and managed to not only analyse all the samples and then help me write up but then he managed to get the job as marine assistant 2 years after me! So great results all round.

So what did we do?!

I came up with the basic plan back in Cambridge, flew out to Rothera with some sampling bottles and then as you can see here, this was me collecting the microplastics during a dive. It was quick and easy to collect 3 bottles of sediment so we didn't need to do any specific dives, we just did this study as an add on to the end of the dive or during the safety stop so that it did not add pressure to the core science. 

We managed to collect all of the samples before the last ship, so I boxed them up and sent them to the UK to be delivered to Marlon at Plymouth Uni. He kindly analysed them for me whilst I was wintering, he even finished the results in time for me to write up on the way home on the ship. It all came together with a little bit of planning!

Highlights

•The Antarctica environment is remote and pristine compared to other regions.

•Microplastics were detected in marine sediments around Rothera Research Station.

•Microplastic levels were comparable with those found in marine sediments worldwide.

•A likely source was treated laundry greywater from the station sewage outfall.

•Further microplastics research would inform Antarctic policy and management.

What were the results?

Yep...people on the base are basically adding microplastics into the environment...!

• Plastic particles detected in North Cove and Cheshire (nearest to the station’s outfall) included synthetic fibres with a long-thin form that may be indicative of textiles from clothing, cleansing wipes and hygiene products. Analysis showed that rayon, a semi-synthetic fibre, was most common (comprised 42% of all the particles examined).

• The microplastic particles from the sediments were diverse in colour, including white and vibrant reds, green and turquoise; however, 20% of the particles were black or blue.articles were almost all fibres, commonly 2–5 mm in maximal length and <0.1 mm in diameter. 

For a MASTS poster presentation I finished with this summary:

The issue? Microplastics are being released into the water column and not just in the Antarctic but all over the world

What can be done in the Antarctic? To start with the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty which was agreed in 1991 needs to be updated to address the issue of microplastic pollution directly and include it in the Annex III ‘Waste Disposal and Waste Management.’ The Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties, and in particular their Committee on Environmental Protection, need to start discussing the issue of microplastic.

Moving forward? Further research on microplastic Pollution levels and likely impacts around research stations need to be undertaken to inform policy discussion and recommendations on possible practical responses.

For more information contact Kevin Hughes keus@bas.ac.uk or Sarah Reed sarah.reed@sams.ac.uk

So after leaving BAS, I did not really finish there with microplastics, as you can see from my blogpost before this, I am involved with collecting microplastics from rowaround2020, collecting microplastic from rowing boats. 

The other project that I was involved with last year but actually from my new found lipid expertise. This time we were working with Matt Cole from Plymouth Marine Lab (PML) to assist with this super interesting paper.

I was working for David Pond, but for this study, I led on the method and lab work alongside Matt Cole and Dave advised. It was fun to work with someone else in the lab for once as the lipid process is very long! This is what we were getting up to in the lab:

This method means...a lot of time at this EVAP machine! It evaporates the chloroform with nitrogen. 

As a tech it was great to be involved with this paper from a methodology, collecting the results and also helping to edit and make changes. It felt very inclusive and was a great experience.

The study showed an interesting insight into how microplastics are effecting copepods (if you don't know what copepods are by now after reading this blog, go back to later on in 2018 haha)! The conclusion to the paper was, "Our results emphasize that the shape and chemical profile of a microplastic can influence its bioavailability and toxicity, drawing attention to the importance of using environmentally relevant microplastics and chemically profiling plastics used in toxicity testing." 

One of the biggest issues presented from these results is, "In this exposure study we demonstrate that microplastics have the capacity to reduce feeding, stymie lipid accumulation and trigger premature moulting in a boreal copepod."

What got me talking about microplastics and all of the research I have been involved with is that my paper was recently quoted in a discussion paper about Microplastic pollution in a rapidly changing world: Implications for remote and vulnerable marine ecosystems by Alice Horton & my old boss DKAB! From this paper it made me think that I really want to redo the 2016 study on microplastics around Rothera and build it into a time series dataset...now to get planning!

As you might have seen from some of my other posts, I am getting more and more involved with citizen science projects as without the general public having knowledge, things that need to change are not going to change because people don't have the knowledge.

I have joined we swim wild, as a #waterlogger for my local waterways which is Loch Leven and the River Coe on the West coast of Scotland and many more areas that I end up swimming in. One idea of it is that through social media we show ourselves pickling up trash to create a movement as it were for people to pick up any trash/rubbish that they see on their travels. "Inspiring change through adventure." 

"Leading the way on microplastic research. Take a look at some of the projects that Dr Christian Dunn and the team at Bangor University have been working on to analyse and collate research on micro-plastics.

"So plastics in the environment, not good. There are studies coming out that they are finding microplastics in the ice and all the way up the food chain. A recurring theme from all of this research is that we need to do more of it, but when we do more of it have a repeatable/standard procedure so that the results can be compared easily! And as projects like we swim wild show, a presence on social media can really start to have a positive effect if used in the correct way.