HC007
Microplastics and Nanoplastics in the Ocean: Pathways, Impacts, and Analytical Advances
Session ID#: 259359
Session Description:
The ocean is a major sink for pollutants, including micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs), road traffic-derived tyre wear particles (TWPs), and persistent and toxic co-contaminants such as PFAS and 6PPD-quinone. Together, these pollutants pose escalating risks to ocean health and function.
Despite their ubiquitous presence in the marine environment, MNPs, TWPs, and co-contaminants remain challenging to detect, quantify, and characterise in complex marine matrices. These challenges have spurred rapid developments of analytical techniques, reference materials, and modelling approaches. Understanding the sources, pathways, and transformations of these pollutants on their journey from land to deep ocean and polar ice requires integrating physical, chemical, and ecological perspectives. Their environmental fate intersects with ocean dynamics, biogeochemical processes and ecological vulnerabilities, including effects on plankton communities and carbon sequestration.
This session invites observational, experimental, and modelling studies on sources, transport mechanisms, transformations, and impacts of MNPs, TWPs, and co-contaminants. We also welcome contributions on advancing analytical frontiers, such as artificial intelligence, high-resolution mass spectrometry, spectroscopy, and imaging, and work that helps benchmark reference materials and predictive models.
By bridging innovation, process and impact understanding, and policy relevance, this session aims to inform global mitigation efforts and support international frameworks, such as the Global Plastics Treaty.
Co-Sponsor(s):
Index Terms:
4251 Marine pollution [OCEANOGRAPHY: GENERAL]
4803 Analytical chemistry [OCEANOGRAPHY: CHEMICAL]
4809 Colloids [OCEANOGRAPHY: CHEMICAL]
4825 Geochemistry [OCEANOGRAPHY: CHEMICAL]
Student/Early Career Chair: Lingwei Li, Ohio State University, Columbus, United States
Primary Chair: Maya Al Sid Cheikh, University of Edinburgh, School of Chemistry, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Co-chairs: Lingwei Li1, Katsiaryna Pabortsava2, Laura Sunberg3 and Alice Horton2, (1)Ohio State University, Columbus, United States(2)National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, United Kingdom(3)University of Colorado Boulder, Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering Department and Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, Boulder, United States
Implementation of a microplastics tracer in CESM (1865957)
David A Bailey, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, United States, Lingwei Li, University of Colorado at Boulder, Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR), Boulder, United States and Alexandra Jahn, University of Colorado Boulder, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences and Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR), Boulder, United States
Influence of the Discrimination of Microplastics (Fibres and Fragments) on their Distribution in the Ocean (2007005)
Anne Gaymard, UBO, Ifremer, Laboratoire d’Oceanographie Physique et Spatiale (LOPS), Plouzane, France, Plouzané, France, Camille Richon, CNRS, Laboratoire des Sciences de l'Environnement Marin (LEMAR), Plouzané, France, Matthias Egger, The Ocean Cleanup, Rotterdam, Netherlands and Thomas Gorgues, Laboratoire d’Océanographie Physique et Spatiale (LOPS), University of Brest, CNRS, Ifremer, IRD, IUEM, Plouzané, France
Ecological and Cultural Impacts of Microplastic Pollution in Nigerian Aquatic Ecosystems: Extrapolating into the Future. (2010440)
Folake Adelere1, Osemegbe Lydia Eboh2, Victor Nwokama Akani2 and Bright Uchenna Ndimele3, (1)Ogun State Institute of Technology Igbesa, Ogun State, Nigeria, Igbesa, Nigeria, (2)Lagos State University, Ojo, Lagos State, Nigeria, Fisheries, Lagos, Nigeria, (3)Aquatic Conservation and Ecological Restoration Network, Lagos, Nigeria
Painting Microplastics: Outlining a Comparable Generative Methodology for Future Microplastics Research (2018606)
Jocelyne Osborne1, Daniel Commandeur1, Bing Guo1, Fay Couceiro2 and Dr. Maya AL Sid Cheikh, PhD3, (1)University of Surrey, Guildford, United Kingdom, (2)University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, United Kingdom, (3)University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
One tool to test it all: The harmonized analysis of microplastics by siMPle (2024518)
Sebastian Primpke1, Alvise Vianello2, Gunnar Gerdts1 and Jes Vollertsen2, (1)Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz-Center for Polar and Marine Research, Biologische Anstalt Helgoland, Helgoland, Germany, (2)Aalborg University, Department of the Built Environment, Aalborg Øst, Denmark
Distributions of Microplastics in the Tropical and Subtropical Atlantic Using Adapted Sampling and Microscopy Protocols (2029501)
Madeleine Regulla1,2, Zoe Skinner3, Rodney J Johnson4, Shavon Nisbett5, Kaitlin Noyes1, Nicholas Robert Bates6 and Rachel Jane Parsons7, (1)Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, St.George's, Bermuda, (2)Dartmouth College, Hanover, United States, (3)Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, Microbiology, St.George's, Bermuda, (4)Arizona State University (ASU)-Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS), St George's, Bermuda, (5)Nova Southeastern University, Dania Beach, United States, (6)Arizona State University (ASU)-Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS), St.George's, Bermuda, (7)Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, St.George's, GE, Bermuda
Simulating Arctic Microplastics and the role of sea ice-ocean exchange for microplastics distribution (2030051)
Alexandra Jahn, University of Colorado at Boulder, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences and INSTAAR, Boulder, CO, United States, Lingwei Li, Ohio State University, Columbus, United States; University of Colorado at Boulder, Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR), Boulder, United States and David A Bailey, National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, United States
Assessment of The Sources, Distribution and Ecological Impacts of Microplastics in Coastal Waters: Ghana Coastal Water as A Case Study. (2031221)
Esther Oghenede1, Edem Mahu2, Samuel Popoola1, Yemi Damilare Afolabi3 and Dr. Olubunmi Olubunmi Nubi, PhD1, (1)Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research, Physical and Chemical Oceanography Department, Lagos, Nigeria, (2)University of Ghana, Marine and Fisheries Sciences, Accra, Ghana, (3)University of Lagos, Geosciences, Lagos, Nigeria
Modeled coastal microplastic biofouling and transport in the northern Gulf of Mexico (2038828)
Laura Sunberg, University of Colorado Boulder, Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering Department and Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, Boulder, United States, Julia Moriarty, University of Colorado Boulder, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences and the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, Boulder, United States and Melissa Moulton, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Climate and Global Dynamics, Boulder, United States; Applied Physics Laboratory University of Washington, Seattle, United States
Micro-and Nano-Plastic Concentrations in Native Eastern Oysters (C. virginica) in the Mississippi Sound and Evidence of Selective Uptake by Larvae (2042235)
Rachel Lancaster, University of Southern Mississippi, Division of Marine Science, Stennis Space Center, United States, Kristina Mojica, The University of Southern Mississippi, Division of Marine Science, School of Ocean Science and Engineering, Stennis Space Center, United States and Madison Godbold, University of Southern Mississippi, Department of Marine Science, Stennis Space Center, United States
Contributions to the Accumulation of Microplastics in the Arctic Ocean: a Regional Analysis of the Barents Sea (2043413)
Isha Khandwala, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, United States, David Bailey, National Center for Atmospheric Research, CGD, Boulder, United States, Lingwei Li, Ohio State University, Columbus, United States and Alexandra Jahn, University of Colorado Boulder, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences and Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR), Boulder, United States
A novel analytical technique: an ultrasonic benchtop sensor for near real-time microplastic identification and characterization (2046156)
Jennifer Brandon1, Chris Verlinden2, EeShan Bhatt2 and Dr. Kathryn Verlinden3, (1)Wild Beacon Consulting, Encinitas, United States, (2)Applied Ocean Sciences, Clarksburg, United States, (3)Applied Ocean Sciences, Corvallis, United States
Adhesion, Ingestion and Incorporation of Microplastics in Corals Across the Pacific (2046318)
Dr. Keiko Wilkins, PhD, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Kewalo Marine Laboratory, Honolulu, United States and Robert H Richmond, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, United States
