Unveiling Microplastic Pollution: Insights from the Chesapeake Bay Summer 2023 Study
Discipline: Ecology Environmental and Earth Sciences
Subcategory: Pollution/Toxic Substances/Waste
Session: 1
Room: Scarlet Oak
Tameka Taylor - Morgan State University
Co-Author(s): Sulakshana Bhatt, Morgan State University, Baltimore, MDChunlei Fan, Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD
Microplastic pollution is a global concern with potential consequences for aquatic ecosystems. However, the abundance and distribution of microplastics in the Chesapeake Bay are not well understood for its environmental and public health risk assessment. During the summer of 2023, monthly surface water samples were collected at 4 locations on the Chesapeake Bay. Microplastic samples were digested with potassium hydroxide (KOH), then subjected to density separation, and finally filtered on silver membrane filters for chemical and physical properties analysis. The Shimadzu AIM 9000 FTIR microscope was used to characterize the abundance, size fraction, and chemical composition of microplastic samples. The preliminary data revealed significant spatial variability in the distribution of microplastics within the Chesapeake Bay, with an average abundance of 763 ± 411.9 particles per liter of water. Microplastics smaller than 300 micrometers (<300 m) were the most common, making up over 85% of the total microplastics found. Polyacetylene was the most abundant (44%) polymer type found in the samples, followed by Polyamide (21.6%). The abundance of microplastics in the Chesapeake Bay was found to be higher than previously estimated, especially for the smaller size microplastics. These findings suggest that microplastics are potentially a significant threat to the marine environment of the Chesapeake Bay. Further research is needed to understand the impacts of microplastics on marine life and to develop strategies for source reduction and prevention of microplastic pollution.References: J. Bikker, J. Lawson, S. Wilson, and C. M. Rochman, “Microplastics and other anthropogenic particles in the surface waters of the Chesapeake Bay,” Mar. Pollut. Bull., vol. 156, p. 111257, Jul. 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111257.“Microplastics in Four Estuarine Rivers in the Chesapeake Bay, U.S.A.” https://pubs.acs.org/doi/epdf/10.1021/es5036317 A. D. Gabriel, R. F. Amparado, A. A. Lubguban, and H. P. Bacosa, “Riverine Microplastic Pollution: Insights from Cagayan de Oro River, Philippines,” Int. J. Environ. Res. Public. Health, vol. 20, no. 12, Art. no. 12, Jan. 2023, doi: 10.3390/ijerph20126132.
Funder Acknowledgement(s): Funding was provided by the NSF (awardnumber 2022887) and NIH National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities AwardNumber U54MD013376 to Dr. Chunlei Fan.
Faculty Advisor: Chunlei Fan, chunlei.fan@morgan.edu
Role: I performed the field sample collection, sample analysis using FTIR and the data analysis.