Plastic recycling plant as a point source of microplastics to sediment and macroinvertebrates in a remote stream.

Unlabelled: Microplastic is now ubiquitous in freshwater, sediment and biota, globally. This is as a consequence of inputs from, for example, waste mismanagement, effluents from wastewater treatment plants and surface runoff from agricultural areas. In this study, we investigated point source pollution of plastic to an upland stream, originating from a recycling plant that recycles polyethylene film in a remote area of Norway.

Anthropogenically impacted lake catchments in Denmark reveal low microplastic pollution.

Microplastics have been detected in lake environments globally, including in remote regions. Agricultural and populated areas are known to congregate several inputs and release pathways for microplastic. This study investigated microplastic (50-5000 µm) contamination in five Danish freshwater lakes with catchments dominated by arable land use.

Chitinase digestion for the analysis of microplastics in chitinaceous organisms using the terrestrial isopod Oniscus asellus L. as a model organism.

Chitinaceous organisms have been found to ingest microplastic; however, a standardised, validated, and time- and cost-efficient method for dissolving these organisms without affecting microplastic particles is still required. This study tested four protocols for dissolving organisms with a chitin exoskeleton: 1) potassium hydroxide (KOH) + chitinase, 2) Creon® + chitinase, 3) hydrogen peroxide (HO) + chitinase, and, 4) Nitric Acid (HNO) + hydrogen peroxide (HO). The effects on microplastics composed of eight different polymers were also tested.

Combined effects of human pressures on Europe's marine ecosystems.

Marine ecosystems are under high demand for human use, giving concerns about how pressures from human activities may affect their structure, function, and status. In Europe, recent developments in mapping of marine habitats and human activities now enable a coherent spatial evaluation of potential combined effects of human activities. Results indicate that combined effects from multiple human pressures are spread to 96% of the European marine area, and more specifically that combined effects from physical disturbance are spread to 86% of the coastal area and 46% of the shelf area.

Relative impacts of multiple human stressors in estuaries and coastal waters in the North Sea-Baltic Sea transition zone.

The objectives of this study are 1) to map the potential cumulative impacts of multiple human activities and stressors on the ecosystems in the transition zone between the North Sea and Baltic Sea, for Danish waters 2) to analyse differences in stressor contribution between the European Union's Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD, off-shore waters) and Water Framework Directive (WFD, coastal waters), and 3) to assess the local relative importance of stressors for 14 areas along a land-sea gradient, from inner fjords or coastal areas to offshore waters. The mapping of cumulative impacts is anchored in 35 datasets describing a broad range of human stressors and 47 ecosystem components ranging from phytoplankton over benthic communities to fish, seabirds and marine mammals, which we combined by means of a widely used spatial human impact model. Ranking of the stressor impacts for the entire study area revealed that the top five stressors are: 'Nutrients', 'Climate anomalies', 'Non-indigenous species', 'Noise' and 'Contaminants'.

Development and testing of a prototype tool for integrated assessment of chemical status in marine environments.

We report the development and application of a prototype tool for integrated assessment of chemical status in aquatic environments based on substance- and matrix-specific environmental assessment criteria (thresholds). The Chemical Status Assessment Tool (CHASE) integrates data on hazardous substances in water, sediments and biota as well as bio-effect indicators and is based on a substance- or bio-effect-specific calculation of a 'contamination ratio' being the ratio between an observed concentration and a threshold value. Values <1.