Submit to Applied Sciences Review for Applied Sciences Propose a Special Issue

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

The Behavior of Microplastics in Environment

Print Special Issue Flyer
Special Issue Editors
Special Issue Information
Keywords
Published Papers

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (22 February 2022) | Viewed by 15666

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Ana Virginia Filgueiras

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Instituto Español de Oceanografía (IEO), Centro Oceanográfico de Vigo, Subida a Radio Faro, 50-52, 36390 Vigo, Spain

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The Marine Strategy Framework Directive defines marine environment as “the heritage that must be protected, preserved and, where practicable, restored with the ultimate aim of maintaining biodiversity and providing diverse and dynamic oceans and seas which are clean, healthy and productive”. Nevertheless, every year around 8 million tonnes of plastics reach the ocean, which over time reduce in size, giving rise to microplastics.

Although plastic is inert, many additives used are toxic, such as plasticizers (i.e., phthalates, bisphenol A), surfactants, pigments, nanofibers, biocides, lubricants, etc. In addition, microplastics can concentrate contaminants present in the environment and act as transfer vectors in the marine environment. Therefore, microplastics are recognized as an emerging contaminant in the environment, but the impact of plastic particles on aquatic ecosystems is far from understood. Hence, acquiring knowledge about microplastics’ behavior is crucial in order to determine their content in sediments and in the aquatic environment, as well as to develop up-to-date environmental legislation which aims to preserve and protect marine ecosystems more effectively.

Dr. Ana Virginia Filgueiras
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Microplastics
Marine pollution
Bioavailability
Monitoring
Environmental legislation
Identification
Quantification.

Published Papers (5 papers)

Download All Papers

Order results

Result details

Show export options Show export options

Select all

Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

16 pages, 7372 KiB

Open AccessArticle

What Are Lake Beaches Made of? An Assessment of Plastic Beach Litter on the Shores of Como Bay (Italy)

by Arianna Bellasi, Gilberto Binda, Ginevra Boldrocchi, Andrea Pozzi and Roberta Bettinetti

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(11), 5388; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12115388 - 26 May 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 1780

Abstract

Plastic waste dispersion is a well-recognized environmental threat, despite continuous efforts towards improving waste disposal management over the last few decades. Plastic litter is known to strongly impact upon water bodies and shorelines, affecting the health of ecosystems and impacting upon the aesthetic value of sites. Moreover, plastic waste that is abandoned on beaches contributes towards different degradation processes that potentially lead to the formation of secondary microplastics (MPs), with likely cascade effects upon the whole ecosystem. In this view, this study aims to characterize the plastic beach litter found on the shores of the western basin of Como Lake (Italy) to better understand the origin of MPs in littoral sediments, including the recognition of object typologies and the chemical characterization of polymers using Fourier-transformed infrared analysis (FTIR). The results highlighted that the most abundant polymers on beaches are polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE), representing 73% of the collected polymers. This confirms that floating, low-density polymers are more likely to accumulate on beaches. Moreover, almost 66% of litter is represented by commonly used manufactured items (disposable objects, packaging, and everyday items). This evidence, combined with the analysis of the main environmental features of the sampling sites (the main winds, distance to urban areas, and the presence of tributaries) indicate that abundance of beached litter is mainly linked to beach accessibility and the local winds. These results highlight that multiple factors affect the environmental fate of plastic litter and give insights into the assessment of secondary microplastics in beach sediments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Behavior of Microplastics in Environment)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

21 pages, 4195 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Deposition and Mobilization of Microplastics in a Low-Energy Fluvial Environment from a Geomorphological Perspective

by Tímea Kiss, Sándor Gönczy, Tibor Nagy, Minučer Mesaroš and Alexia Balla

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(9), 4367; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12094367 - 26 Apr 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1858

Abstract

Though microplastic (MP/MiP) pollution of the environment is a popular research topic, a relatively limited number of studies are investigating its geomorphological context. However, site-specific hydrological and morphological parameters fundamentally affect the MP transport, deposition and mobilization. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the geomorphological influencing factors on MP deposition in the fluvial sediments of the Tisza River (Central Europe). Between the two surveys (in 2019 and 2020), small flood waves rearranged the MP pollution, as in the sediments of the Tisza it decreased by 30% and in the tributaries by 48%. The previously highly polluted upstream and downstream sections became moderately polluted, but the contamination increased in the Middle Tisza, and the hot-spots were rearranged. The increasing longitudinal trend in the MP content exists if the minimum values of the hydrologically uniform sections are considered. The tributaries are important MP sources, as 80% of them had a higher (by 20%) MP content in their sediments than the Tisza had near the confluence, and they increased the MP content of the Tisza by 52% on average. The point-bars were the most polluted in-channel forms, while the side-bars and sediment sheets had less MP content, by 18 and 23%, respectively. The spatial trend of the MP content of these forms was not the same. Therefore, during the planning of sampling campaigns, it is very important to consider the geomorphological setting of a sampling site: we suggest sampling side-bars. No clear connection between the particle size of the sediments and their MP content was found. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Behavior of Microplastics in Environment)

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

17 pages, 2038 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Assessing the Impact of Chrysene-Sorbed Polystyrene Microplastics on Different Life Stages of the Mediterranean Mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis

by Marco Capolupo, Alessandro Girolamo Rombolà, Sadia Sharmin, Paola Valbonesi, Daniele Fabbri and Elena Fabbri

Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(19), 8924; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11198924 - 24 Sep 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2518

Abstract

The sorption of organic pollutants to marine plastic litter may pose risks to marine organisms, notably for what concerns their intake and transfer through microplastic (MP) ingestion. This study investigated the effects of polystyrene MP loaded with chrysene (CHR) on early-stage and physiological endpoints measured in the Mediterranean mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis. The same concentrations of virgin microplastics (MP) and MP loaded with 10.8 µg CHR/mg (CHR-MP) were administered to mussel gametes/embryos (25 × 10³ items/mL) and adults (5⋅× 10³ items/L); further treatments included 0.1 mg/L of freely dissolved CHR and a second CHR concentration corresponding to that vehiculated by CHR-MP during exposure (3.78 µg/L and 0.73 ng/L for gamete/embryos and adults, respectively). None of the treatments affected gamete fertilization, while 0.1 mg/L CHR induced embryotoxicity. In adults, CHR-MP and MP similarly affected lysosomal membrane stability and neutral lipids and induced slight effects on oxidative stress endpoints. CHR affected tested endpoints only at 0.1 mg/L, with lysosomal, oxidative stress and neurotoxicity biomarkers generally showing greater alterations than those induced by CHR-MP and MP. This study shows that the CHR sorption on MP does not alter the impact of virgin MP on mussels and may pose limited risks compared to other routes of exposure. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Behavior of Microplastics in Environment)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

12 pages, 2441 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Modeling and Parametric Simulation of Microplastic Transport in Groundwater Environments

by Han-Sun Ryu, Jinah Moon, Heejung Kim and Jin-Yong Lee

Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(16), 7189; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11167189 - 4 Aug 2021

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3330

Abstract

Efforts to reduce the toxic effects of microplastics (MPs) on the environment have increased globally in recent years. However, the existing models used for the simulation of contaminant transport in groundwater are meant for dissolved substances, which is not suitable for studying MPs. Therefore, in this study, the transport of MPs in a saturated porous medium was modeled by establishing governing equations. Simulations were performed using the finite element method to examine the effects of the parameters of the governing equations on the transport of MPs. The results suggest that it is necessary to reduce the diffusivity of MPs and increase the water flow velocity, porosity, and first-order attachment coefficient to effectively contain this environmental hazard. From the simulation results, it can be derived that a combination of low diffusivity, fast water flow velocity, and high soil porosity may reduce the amount of MPs that are leaked into groundwater environments. The modeling and simulations performed in this study provide a clear understanding of the transport phenomena of MPs with applications in combating water pollution. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Behavior of Microplastics in Environment)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 7642 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

The Influence of Polystyrene Microspheres Abundance on Development and Feeding Behavior of Artemia salina (Linnaeus, 1758)

by Marco Albano, Giuseppe Panarello, Davide Di Paola, Fabiano Capparucci, Rosalia Crupi, Enrico Gugliandolo, Nunziacarla Spanò, Gioele Capillo and Serena Savoca

Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(8), 3352; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11083352 - 8 Apr 2021

Cited by 35 | Viewed by 5149

Abstract

In the present study, it has been evaluated how 10 µm of polyethylene microspheres can be ingested by Artemia salina (Linnaeus, 1758) larvae within the first 7 days of the life cycle, and the impact on their health. Twelve A. salina larvae (instar I) groups were exposed to different microplastics (MPs) concentrations (0-1-10-10²-10³-10⁴ MPs/mL), with and without Dunaliella salina as a food source. The results highlighted that A. salina larvae ingest MPs in relation to the exposure times in a dose-dependent manner and are significantly influenced by food availability. The highest contamination found was 306.2 MPs/individual at 10⁴ MPs/mL exposure without a food source. No MPs were found in the presence of the food source from 1 to 10² MPs/mL, while contamination was detected at all concentrations of MPs without a food source. The worst effect on the developmental stages was evaluated at 168 h with a food source, with a delay compared to the control of I and II instars at 10³ and 10⁴ MPs/mL, respectively. Furthermore, microalgal feeding was significantly reduced for about 50% in the presence of 10⁴ MPs/mL. These results highlight that aquatic microplastics pollution could affect the A. salina’s feeding behavior and life cycle. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Behavior of Microplastics in Environment)

► Show Figures

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

The Behavior of Microplastics in Environment

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editor

Special Issue Information

Keywords

Published Papers (5 papers)

Research

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI