ReviewMicroplastics in the Bay of Biscay: An overview
Introduction
The large-scale production of plastics began in the 1950s. Since then, the versatility of plastics, their cost-effectiveness and the increase in widespread consumption habits together with the global population growth have led to an exponential increase in the demand of this material worldwide, from 2 metric tonnes (Mt) in the early 1950s to 348 million Mt in 2017 (GESAMP, 2015; PlasticsEurope, 2018). Around half of the plastics produced are designed for single-use applications (packaging of food and beverages, packaging of products for transport, etc.), and therefore has a short life-span. As a result, according to Geyer and co-workers, between 1950 and 2015, 6300 million Mt of plastic waste has been produced, of which only 9% have been recycled, 12% incinerated, and 79% accumulated in landfill or the natural environment (Geyer et al., 2017). Seas and oceans are the final destinations of a large part of the plastic waste released into nature since they are at the lowest level in the drainage direction of inland waters, and because approximately half of the world's population lives in coastal areas, within 60 km from the shoreline (UNEP, 2016). According to Jambeck et al. (2015), between 4.8 and 12.7 million Mt of plastic enters the seas and oceans yearly.
Plastics at sea are usually classified by three size ranges: micro- (≤5 mm), meso- (5 mm to 2.5 cm), and macro-plastics (2.5 cm – 1 m) (see e.g. Galgani et al., 2013; Lippiatt et al., 2013). Some authors have also included two additional categories: the mega-plastics (>1 m), and nano-plastics (≤ either 1000 nm or 100 nm), although the terms are currently under scientific debate (Lippiatt et al., 2013; Gigault et al., 2018; da Costa et al., 2016).
There is a growing interest and concern towards the smaller range of plastic particles. Microplastics (MPs) are ubiquitous at sea, even in the most remote areas and deep sea beds (Barnes et al., 2009; Ryan et al., 2009; Woodall et al., 2014; Cózar et al., 2017; Sanchez-Vidal et al., 2018). There is also evidence that MPs enter food webs, as they have been detected in planktonic invertebrates, benthic invertebrates, fish, sea birds, marine mammals or sea turtles (see e.g. Lusher, 2015). Hence, it makes necessary to expand the research on their sinks and sources, and the effects at different scales (locally, regionally and globally) and compartments (water, biota, sediments). In this way, the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive (hereinafter MSFD) adopted in 2008 (European Commission, 2008), establishes a set of characteristics for good marine environmental status, where descriptor 10, related to marine litter, states that “Properties and quantities of marine litter do not cause harm to the coastal and marine environment”. The amount, distribution, and composition of micro-litter (classified in the categories ‘artificial polymer materials’ and ‘other’) are specifically considered as criteria to assess this descriptor. Hence, MPs are included as one of the indicators for the evaluation of marine environmental quality (Gago et al., 2015), prescribing mandatory monitoring, in order to establish the concentration, distribution, properties and potential impacts of the MPs.
The Bay of Biscay (hereinafter BoB) is a marine region located in the north-east of the Atlantic Ocean, including the coasts of the north of Spain and the west of France. Despite that recent studies highlight this region as a marine litter accumulation area due to its particular physical oceanography (Gago et al., 2015; van den Beld et al., 2017; Lebreton et al., 2012; van Sebille et al., 2012; Pereiro et al., 2019), the information on MPs distribution and total amounts is limited. This contribution intends to identify all the studies conducted on the occurrence of MPs in this region regarding its presence in coastal and oceanic waters, marine sediments, beaches and biota. Results are evaluated to assess the global situation in the region in terms of MPs occurrence. As a result, potential trends have been established, providing a preliminary assessment of the environmental status in this European region. Also, a monitoring strategy proposal for this marine region with regard to MPs in the framework of the MSFD implementation is discussed.
Section snippets
Geomorphology
The BoB (43–48° N, 0–10° W) is a semi-enclosed gulf located in the north-east of the Atlantic Ocean (Fig. 1). It includes the maritime area that embraces the coasts from Cape Ortegal (Galicia) to the tip of Pern (French Brittany), occupying a surface area of approximately 175,000 km2 (Valdés and Lavín, 2002). It is included in the Region IV (BoB and Iberian Coast) of the OSPAR Commission. The BoB has diverse topography and coastal lines, including a continental shelf with changing width in the
Methods and research design
The literature review on MPs in the BoB was conducted using Science Direct directory as well as Scopus and Web of Science databases, by searching for keywords “Bay of Biscay” AND “microplastics”/“plastic pellets”/“plastic fibers”/“plastic fibres”. These databases were chosen because they cover most of the science journals worldwide. Nine studies were found related to the occurrence of MPs in the BoB. The search was complemented with information obtained from studies, technical reports, as well
Discussion: gaps and challenges
According to the studies conducted in the BoB, MPs appeared in all sampled compartments in a wide range of abundances (see Table 5). Although scarce, there are data on all marine compartments in the region except on the water column below 11 m depth, where no studies have been found. MPs were present in at least 50% of the samples in surface waters and sediments, with 100% occurrence in some cases (Gago et al., 2015; Woodall et al., 2014; Phuong et al., 2018a). The predominance of fragments and
Conclusion
Based on the data compiled to date, the abundance of MPs in the BoB could be considered as a medium level for the different marine compartments, by comparing with mean values obtained in the oceans worldwide (Table 5). However, it is necessary to highlight the difficulty of the comparative exercise between the studies, due to the use of different methodologies. Hence, an urgent consensus is needed in order to standardise MPs sampling and analysis methodologies in all compartments and obtain
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa (ItsasMikro project) and the European Union (LIFE LEMA project, LIFE15/ENV/ES/000252). This paper is contribution n° 958 AZTI. The plastic sampling during ETOILE campaign was partially supported by the JERICO-NEXT project, funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 654410. This work has also been supported by the ECOPES project (funded by the Department of Economic
References (107)
Microplastics in the marine environment
Mar. Pollut. Bull.
(2011)The plastic in microplastics: a review
Mar. Pollut. Bull.
(2017)- et al.
Condition-based maintenance for medium speed diesel engines used in vessels in operation
Appl. Therm. Eng.
(2015) - et al.
Ingestion of microplastics by demersal fish from the Spanish Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts
Mar. Pollut. Bull.
(2016) - et al.
Monitoring of a quasi-stationary eddy in the Bay of Biscay by means of satellite, in situ and model results
Deep-Sea Res. II Top. Stud. Oceanogr.
(2014) - et al.
South-eastern Bay of Biscay eddy-induced anomalies and their effect on chlorophyll distribution
J. Mar. Syst.
(2016) - et al.
Microplastics as contaminants in the marine environment: a review
Mar. Pollut. Bull.
(2011) - et al.
Neustonic microplastic and zooplankton in the north western Mediterranean sea
Mar. Pollut. Bull.
(2012) - et al.
Thermohaline trends in the Bay of Biscay from Argo floats over the decade 2004–2013
J. Mar. Syst.
(2014) - et al.
(Nano) plastics in the environment–sources, fates and effects
Sci. Total Environ.
(2016)
Facteurs de mortalité observés chez les tortues marines dans le Golfe de Gascogne
Oceanol. Acta
Abundance, size and polymer composition of marine microplastics ≥ 10 μm in the Atlantic Ocean and their modelled vertical distribution
Mar. Pollut. Bull.
Low-salinity plumes in the oceanic region of the Basque Country
Cont. Shelf Res.
Incidence of plastic ingestion in seabirds from the Bay of Biscay (southwestern Europe)
Mar. Pollut. Bull.
Influence of environmental and anthropogenic factors on the composition, concentration and spatial distribution of microplastics: a case study of the Bay of Brest (Brittany, France)
Environ. Pollut.
First observation on neustonic plastics in waters off NW Spain (spring 2013 and 2014)
Mar. Environ. Res.
Synthetic microfibers in the marine environment: a review on their occurrence in seawater and sediments
Mar. Pollut. Bull.
Distribution and abundance of debris on the continental shelf of the Bay of Biscay and in Seine Bay
Mar. Pollut. Bull.
Litter on the sea floor along European coasts
Mar. Pollut. Bull.
Current opinion: what is a nanoplastic?
Environ. Pollut.
Microplastic abundance, distribution and composition along a latitudinal gradient in the Atlantic Ocean
Mar. Pollut. Bull.
Threat of plastic ageing in marine environment. Adsorption/desorption of micropollutants
Mar. Pollut. Bull.
Effect of river runoff on sea level from in-situ measurements and numerical models in the Bay of Biscay
Deep-Sea Res. II Top. Stud. Oceanogr.
Intense warm and saline upper ocean inflow in the southern Bay of Biscay in autumn–winter 2006–2007
Cont. Shelf Res.
Numerical modelling of floating debris in the world’s oceans
Mar. Pollut. Bull.
Benthic litter distribution on circalittoral and deep sea bottoms of the southern Bay of Biscay: analysis of potential drivers
Cont. Shelf Res.
Microplastic pollution in the northeast Atlantic Ocean: validated and opportunistic sampling
Mar. Pollut. Bull.
Alert calling in port areas: marine litter as possible secondary dispersal vector for hitchhiking invasive species
J. Nat. Conserv.
Trophic models: what do we learn about Celtic sea and Bay of Biscay ecosystems?
J. Mar. Syst.
Release of synthetic microplastic plastic fibres from domestic washing machines: effects of fabric type and washing conditions
Mar. Pollut. Bull.
Geology and palaeoceanography
Dynamics of floating marine debris in the northern Iberian waters: a model approach
J. Sea Res.
Microplastic abundance and characteristics in French Atlantic coastal sediments using a new extraction method
Environ. Pollut.
Factors influencing the microplastic contamination of bivalves from the French Atlantic coast: location, season and/or mode of life?
Mar. Pollut. Bull.
Celtic and Armorican slope and shelf residual currents
Prog. Oceanogr.
Nutrient fluxes to the Bay of Biscay from Cantabrian rivers (Spain)
Oceanol. Acta
Freshwater from the Bay of Biscay shelves in 2009
J. Mar. Syst.
Seasonal to tidal variability of currents and temperature in waters of the continental slope, southeastern Bay of Biscay
J. Mar. Syst.
Eddy-induced cross-shelf export of high chl-a coastal waters in the SE Bay of Biscay
Remote Sens. Environ.
Surface water circulation patterns in the southeastern Bay of Biscay: new evidences from HF radar data
Cont. Shelf Res.
10 dynamics and human impact in the Bay of Biscay: an ecological perspective
Accumulation and fragmentation of plastic debris in global environments
Philos. Trans. R. Soc. B
Accumulation of microplastic on shorelines worldwide: sources and sinks
Environ. Sci. Technol.
Programa de seguimiento de micropartículas en playas (BM-6) – 2016
Programa de seguimiento de micropartículas en playas (BM-6) – 2017
Programa de seguimiento de micropartículas en playas (BM-6) – 2018
Surface layer circulation derived from Lagrangian drifters in the Bay of Biscay
J. Mar. Syst.
The vertical distribution and biological transport of marine microplastics across the epipelagic and mesopelagic water column
Sci. Rep.
Developing parameterisation for secondary microplastics generation in the sea swash zone
Geophys. Res. Abstr.
Cited by (25)
Plastic debris, persistent organic pollutants and their toxicity impacts in coastal areas in Central Chile
2023, Marine Pollution BulletinAbundance and composition of microplastics in Tampico beach sediments, Tamaulipas State, southern Gulf of Mexico
2023, Marine Pollution BulletinTime-course distribution of fluorescent microplastics in target tissues of mussels and polychaetes
2023, ChemosphereCitation Excerpt :This decrease can be related with a lower availability of MPs in water over time due to the filtration process, consequent ingestion, and excretion process carried out by mussels, which could lead to potential deposition in sediments. Likely, MPs tend to create a biofilm at sea, which increases the specific density of particles and causes them to sink (Mendoza et al., 2020). Accordingly, a decrease of MPs in water column and an increase in sediment occurred after 72 h for the high dose, probably increasing their availability polychaetes.
Highly efficient microplastics removal from water using in-situ ferrate coagulation: Performance evaluation by micro-Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy and coagulation mechanism
2023, Chemical Engineering JournalCitation Excerpt :Most MPs range from a few millimeters to micrometers. The major types of MPs found in the environment are polyethylene (PE) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) [28–30], as most plastic waste were reported to be PE/PP and PET [31]. Their density varies from 0.90 to 1.38, in that, they do not entirely float or settle.
Development of an analytical procedure to analyze microplastics in edible macroalgae using an enzymatic-oxidative digestion
2022, Marine Pollution BulletinThe coastal waters of the south-east Bay of Biscay a dead-end for neustonic plastics
2022, Marine Pollution BulletinCitation Excerpt :This suggests that surface coastal waters of the SE BoB seem contaminated with slightly similar concentrations than those observed in the Mediterranean Sea. However, the heterogeneity in sample collection and processing methodologies and reporting makes the comparison between studies quite complex (Mendoza et al., 2020); this complexity get further increased when fibres are accounted as shown in Section 4.2. Thus, it is of utmost importance to consider standardization of the sampling and analysis methods (Cole et al., 2011; Cowger et al., 2020; Galgani et al., 2010).