Publications by authors named "Janika Reineccius"

Article Synopsis
  • Microplastics, which are tiny pieces of plastic, are a big problem in the oceans, but we don't know how many there are because the ways to measure them aren't very good yet.
  • This study looked at different ways scientists check for microplastics and found that a lot of them were missing important details, so they recalculated the number of microplastics in the ocean and on the seabed and found way more than people thought before.
  • The research showed that some areas, like the Australasian Mediterranean Sea and the North Atlantic, have way more microplastics than other places, and it’s super important for scientists to follow better rules when studying microplastics to get the correct information.*
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Microplastic pollution is a pervasive issue, with remarkably high concentrations observed even in the most remote locations such as Arctic sea ice and snow. The reason for such large microplastic abundances in sea ice is still speculative and applies mainly to saline or freshwater conditions. In this study, we investigated seasonal ice core samples collected in March 2021 from the northern Baltic Sea (Gulf of Bothnia) for their microplastic distributions.

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Microplastics (MPs) are one of the most abundant and widespread anthropogenic pollutants worldwide. In addition to the global spread and threats of plastic to native species by carrying toxic substances, its slow degradation rate and resulting long retention time in the environment constitute a problem that is still poorly understood. In this study, five of the most manufactured plastic types were weathered under simulated beach conditions for 18 months in freshwater, brackish water, and seawater.

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No anthropogenic pollutant is more widespread in the aquatic and terrestrial environment than microplastic; however, there are large knowledge gaps regarding its origin, fate, or temporal variations in the oceans. In this study, we analyzed sediment trap material from the deep subtropical Northeast Atlantic (2000 m) in a long-term record (2003-2015) to assess the role of the deep ocean as a potential sink of microplastics. Microplastic particles were identified in all 110 analyzed samples with flux rates of 1.

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Microplastic in the environment hides visible and invisible dangers for the ecosystems and domiciled organisms. Due to the large quantities of microplastics already distributed worldwide, comparative studies to investigate the associated hazards, distribution patterns, and abundances are becoming increasingly important. Due to varying efforts and budgets, there is still no homogenized detection method for microplastics in the environment, which severely compromises the comparability and reliability of results between previous studies.

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Plastics and microplastics increasingly gain importance due to their perils and wide distribution in the marine environment. Microfibers account for the largest percentage of anthropogenic-induced microparticles, which inter alia, consist of plastic, and are found in deep-sea sediments. However, the sinking of fibers from the surface through the water column to the seafloor is still poorly understood.

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