title: Pigments and plastic in limnetic ecosystems: A qualitative and quantitative study on microparticles of different size classes.
abstract: Recently, macroplastic (>5 mm) and especially microplastic (<5 mm) particles have been reported as emerging contaminants in marine and limnetic ecosystems. Their coloration is gained by the addition of pigments to the polymer blend which is the major component of the respective product. However, color is also a feature of paint and coatings whereby the pigment is the major component. Once abraded from a surface, paint particles may enter the environment via similar pathways as microplastic particles. So far no detailed studies of microplastic particles (pigmented and non-pigmented) as well as paint particles have been performed focusing on very small microparticles (1-50 μm), in either marine or limnetic ecosystems. Using Raman microspectroscopy with a spatial resolution down to 1 μm, we report a remarkable increase in the occurrence of (pigmented) microplastic particles below 500 μm. Among those, most particles were found at a size of ∼130 μm in a freshwater ecosystem (subalpine Lake Garda, Italy). Moreover, our qualitative and quantitative analyses revealed that the number of paint microparticles significantly increased below the size range of 50 μm due to their brittleness (the smallest detected paint particle had a size of 4 μm). Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry measurements showed that both colored particles found in nature as well as virgin particles contain a high variety of metals such as cadmium, lead and copper. These additives may elicit adverse effects in biota ingesting these microparticles, thus paints and associated compounds may act as formerly overlooked contaminants in freshwater ecosystems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Ecology I and BayCEER, University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstr. 30, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany; Department of Biology II, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Grosshaderner Str. 2, 82152 Planegg-Martinsried, Germany.
authors.forename: Hannes K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Imhof
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Ecology I and BayCEER, University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstr. 30, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany. Electronic address: christian.laforsch@uni-bayreuth.de.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Laforsch
authors.affiliation: Institute of Hydrochemistry (IWC), Chair for Analytical Chemistry, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Marchioninistr. 17, 81377 Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Alexandra C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Wiesheu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Hydrochemistry (IWC), Chair for Analytical Chemistry, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Marchioninistr. 17, 81377 Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schmid
authors.affiliation: Institute of Hydrochemistry (IWC), Chair for Analytical Chemistry, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Marchioninistr. 17, 81377 Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Philipp M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Anger
authors.affiliation: Institute of Hydrochemistry (IWC), Chair for Analytical Chemistry, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Marchioninistr. 17, 81377 Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Reinhard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Niessner
authors.affiliation: Institute of Hydrochemistry (IWC), Chair for Analytical Chemistry, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Marchioninistr. 17, 81377 Munich, Germany. Electronic address: natalia.ivleva@ch.tum.de.
authors.forename: Natalia P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Ivleva
mesh_terms: D017753:Ecosystem; D005618:Fresh Water; D008670:Metals; D010150:Paint; D010969:Plastics
chemical_list: D008670:Metals; D010969:Plastics
keywords: (micro)plastic; Heavy metal; Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS); Paint (micro)particles; Raman microspectroscopy (RM); Subalpine lake