Polystyrene microplastics increase microbial release of marine Chromophoric Dissolved Organic Matter in microcosm experiments.

ABSTRACT: About 5 trillion plastic particles are present in our oceans, from the macro to the micro size. Like any other aquatic particulate, plastics and microplastics can create a micro-environment, within which microbial and chemical conditions differ significantly from the surrounding water. Despite the high and increasing abundance of microplastics in the ocean, their influence on the transformation and composition of marine organic matter is largely unknown. Chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) is the photo-reactive fraction of the marine dissolved organic matter (DOM) pool. Changes in CDOM quality and quantity have impacts on marine microbial dynamics and the underwater light environment. One major source of CDOM is produced by marine bacteria through their alteration of pre-existing

SUBMITTER: Galgani L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6168505 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature