Contamination of beach sediments of a subalpine lake with microplastic particles

Plastic waste is of increasing concern in marine ecosystems [1Thompson R. Olsen Y. Mitchell R.P. Davis A. Rowland S.J. John A.W.G. McGonigle D. Russell A.E. Lost at sea: Where is all the plastic?.Science. 2004; 304: 838Crossref PubMed Scopus (3315) Google Scholar, 2Barnes D. Galgani F. Thompson R. Barlaz M. Accumulation and fragmentation of plastic debris in global environments.Philos. Trans. R. Soc. London Ser. B. 2009; 364: 1985-1999Crossref PubMed Scopus (3261) Google Scholar, 3Browne M.A. Crump P. Niven S.J. Teuten E. Tonkin A. Galloway T. Thompson R. Accumulation of microplastic on shorelines woldwide: sources and sinks.Environ. Sci. Technol. 2011; 45: 9175-9179Crossref PubMed Scopus (2551) Google Scholar]. Buoyant plastic particles accumulate in pelagic habitats whereas non-floating debris accumulates on the seafloor and in beach sediments, posing risk to the respective communities [1Thompson R. Olsen Y. Mitchell R.P. Davis A. Rowland S.J. John A.W.G. McGonigle D. Russell A.E. Lost at sea: Where is all the plastic?.Science. 2004; 304: 838Crossref PubMed Scopus (3315) Google Scholar, 2Barnes D. Galgani F. Thompson R. Barlaz M. Accumulation and fragmentation of plastic debris in global environments.Philos. Trans. R. Soc. London Ser. B. 2009; 364: 1985-1999Crossref PubMed Scopus (3261) Google Scholar, 3Browne M.A. Crump P. Niven S.J. Teuten E. Tonkin A. Galloway T. Thompson R. Accumulation of microplastic on shorelines woldwide: sources and sinks.Environ. Sci. Technol. 2011; 45: 9175-9179Crossref PubMed Scopus (2551) Google Scholar, 4Rochman C.M. Browne M.A. Halpern B.S. Hentschel B.T. Hoh E. Karapanagioti H.K. Rios-Mendoza L.M. Takada H. Teh S. Thompson R.C. Policy: Classify plastic waste as hazardous.Nature. 2013; 494: 169-171Crossref PubMed Scopus (925) Google Scholar]. Microplastic particles (<5 mm) are either directly introduced via sewage discharge or formed by biofouling and mechanical abrasion, making them more prone to consumption by aquatic organisms [2Barnes D. Galgani F. Thompson R. Barlaz M. Accumulation and fragmentation of plastic debris in global environments.Philos. Trans. R. Soc. London Ser. B. 2009; 364: 1985-1999Crossref PubMed Scopus (3261) Google Scholar, 3Browne M.A. Crump P. Niven S.J. Teuten E. Tonkin A. Galloway T. Thompson R. Accumulation of microplastic on shorelines woldwide: sources and sinks.Environ. Sci. Technol. 2011; 45: 9175-9179Crossref PubMed Scopus (2551) Google Scholar]. As a consequence, they can accumulate in higher trophic levels [3Browne M.A. Crump P. Niven S.J. Teuten E. Tonkin A. Galloway T. Thompson R. Accumulation of microplastic on shorelines woldwide: sources and sinks.Environ. Sci. Technol. 2011; 45: 9175-9179Crossref PubMed Scopus (2551) Google Scholar, 4Rochman C.M. Browne M.A. Halpern B.S. Hentschel B.T. Hoh E. Karapanagioti H.K. Rios-Mendoza L.M. Takada H. Teh S. Thompson R.C. Policy: Classify plastic waste as hazardous.Nature. 2013; 494: 169-171Crossref PubMed Scopus (925) Google Scholar, 5Cole M. Lindeque P. Halsband C. Galloway T.S. Microplastics as contaminants in the marine environment: A review.Mar. Pollut. Bull. 2011; 62: 2588-2597Crossref PubMed Scopus (2979) Google Scholar]. A variety of harmful effects of plastic and associated chemicals has been shown [2Barnes D. Galgani F. Thompson R. Barlaz M. Accumulation and fragmentation of plastic debris in global environments.Philos. Trans. R. Soc. London Ser. B. 2009; 364: 1985-1999Crossref PubMed Scopus (3261) Google Scholar, 3Browne M.A. Crump P. Niven S.J. Teuten E. Tonkin A. Galloway T. Thompson R. Accumulation of microplastic on shorelines woldwide: sources and sinks.Environ. Sci. Technol. 2011; 45: 9175-9179Crossref PubMed Scopus (2551) Google Scholar, 4Rochman C.M. Browne M.A. Halpern B.S. Hentschel B.T. Hoh E. Karapanagioti H.K. Rios-Mendoza L.M. Takada H. Teh S. Thompson R.C. Policy: Classify plastic waste as hazardous.Nature. 2013; 494: 169-171Crossref PubMed Scopus (925) Google Scholar]. Moreover, plastic debris can act as vector for alien species and diseases [2Barnes D. Galgani F. Thompson R. Barlaz M. Accumulation and fragmentation of plastic debris in global environments.Philos. Trans. R. Soc. London Ser. B. 2009; 364: 1985-1999Crossref PubMed Scopus (3261) Google Scholar, 6Zettler E.R. Mincer T.J. Amaral-Zettler L.A. Life in the “Plastisphere”: Microbial Communities on Plastic Marine Debris.Environ. Sci. Technol. 2013; 47: 7137-7146PubMed Google Scholar]. A large portion of the plastic waste is produced onshore and reaches the marine environment, which is considered the main sink of plastic debris. There is, however, a considerable lack of knowledge on the contamination of freshwater ecosystems with plastic debris. We here show that freshwater ecosystems also act, at least temporarily, as a sink for plastic particles.