title: Pelagic microplastics around an archipelago of the Equatorial Atlantic.
abstract: Plastic marine debris is presently widely recognised as an important environmental pollutant. Such debris is reported in every habitat of the oceans, from urban tourist beaches to remote islands and from the ocean surface to submarine canyons, and is found buried and deposited on sandy and cobble beaches. Plastic marine debris varies from micrometres to several metres in length and is potentially ingested by animals of every level of the marine food web. Here, we show that synthetic polymers are present in subsurface plankton samples around Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago in the Equatorial Atlantic Ocean. To explain the distribution of microplastics around the Archipelago, we proposed a generalised linear model (GLM) that suggests the existence of an outward gradient of mean plastic-particle densities. Plastic items can be autochthonous or transported over large oceanic distances. One probable source is the small but persistent fishing fleet using the area.
authors: Laboratório de Ecologia e Gerenciamento de Ecossistemas Costeiros e Estuarinos, Departamento de Oceanografia, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Av. Arquitetura s/n, CEP 50740-550 Recife, PE, Brazil. Electronic address: julianasul@gmail.com.
authors: Juliana A
authors: JA
authors: Ivar do Sul
authors: Laboratório de Ecologia e Gerenciamento de Ecossistemas Costeiros e Estuarinos, Departamento de Oceanografia, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Av. Arquitetura s/n, CEP 50740-550 Recife, PE, Brazil.
authors: Monica F
authors: MF
authors: Costa
authors: Laboratório de Ecologia e Gerenciamento de Ecossistemas Costeiros e Estuarinos, Departamento de Oceanografia, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Av. Arquitetura s/n, CEP 50740-550 Recife, PE, Brazil.
authors: Mário
authors: M
authors: Barletta
authors: Departamento de Estatística, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil.
authors: Francisco José A
authors: FJA
authors: Cysneiros
mesh_terms: D001267:Atlantic Ocean; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D020387:Food Chain; D010933:Plankton; D010969:Plastics / Q000032:analysis*; D014866:Waste Products / Q000032:analysis*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*; D014877:Water Pollution, Chemical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D010969:Plastics; D014866:Waste Products; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Hard plastic fragments; Plankton samples; Rubber crumbs; Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago; Small-scale survey; Synthetic threads