Microplastic contamination of the drilling bivalve Hiatella arctica in Arctic rhodolith beds.

ABSTRACT: There is an increasing number of studies reporting microplastic (MP) contamination in the Arctic environment. We analysed MP abundance in samples from a marine Arctic ecosystem that has not been investigated in this context and that features a high biodiversity: hollow rhodoliths gouged by the bivalve Hiatella arctica. This bivalve is a filter feeder that potentially accumulates MPs and may therefore reflect MP contamination of the rhodolith ecosystem at northern Svalbard. Our analyses revealed that 100% of the examined specimens were contaminated with MP, ranging between one and 184 MP particles per bivalve in samples from two water depths. Polymer composition and abundance differed strongly between both water depths: samples from 40 m water depth showed a generally higher concentration o

SUBMITTER: Teichert S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8285507 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature