PMID- 36611770
OWN - NLM
STAT- PubMed-not-MEDLINE
LR  - 20230111
IS  - 2076-2615 (Print)
IS  - 2076-2615 (Electronic)
IS  - 2076-2615 (Linking)
VI  - 13
IP  - 1
DP  - 2022 Dec 31
TI  - Microplastic Interactions and Possible Combined Biological Effects in Antarctic 
      Marine Ecosystems.
LID - 10.3390/ani13010162 [doi]
LID - 162
AB  - Antarctica and the Southern Ocean are the most remote regions on Earth, and their 
      quite pristine environmental conditions are increasingly threatened by local 
      scientific, tourism and fishing activities and long-range transport of persistent 
      anthropogenic contaminants from lower latitudes. Plastic debris has become one of 
      the most pervasive and ubiquitous synthetic wastes in the global environment, and 
      even at some coastal Antarctic sites it is the most common and enduring evidence 
      of past and recent human activities. Despite the growing scientific interest in 
      the occurrence of microplastics (MPs) in the Antarctic environment, the lack of 
      standardized methodologies for the collection, analysis and assessment of sample 
      contamination in the field and in the lab does not allow us to establish their 
      bioavailability and potential impact. Overall, most of the Southern Ocean appears 
      to be little-affected by plastic contamination, with the exception of some 
      coastal marine ecosystems impacted by wastewater from scientific stations and 
      tourist vessels or by local fishing activities. Microplastics have been detected 
      in sediments, benthic organisms, Antarctic krill and fish, but there is no clear 
      evidence of their transfer to seabirds and marine mammals. Therefore, we suggest 
      directing future research towards standardization of methodologies, focusing 
      attention on nanoplastics (which probably represent the greatest biological 
      risks) and considering the interactions of MPs with macro- and microalgae 
      (especially sea-ice algae) and the formation of epiplastic communities. In 
      coastal ecosystems directly impacted by human activities, the combined exposure 
      to paint chips, metals, persistent organic pollutants (POPs), contaminants of 
      emerging interest (CEI) and pathogenic microorganisms represents a potential 
      danger for marine organisms. Moreover, the Southern Ocean is very sensitive to 
      water acidification and has shown a remarkable decrease in sea-ice formation in 
      recent years. These climate-related stresses could reduce the resilience of 
      Antarctic marine organisms, increasing the impact of anthropogenic contaminants 
      and pathogenic microorganisms.
FAU - Bargagli, Roberto
AU  - Bargagli R
AD  - Department of Physics, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Siena, Via 
      P.A. Mattioli 4, IT-53100 Siena, Italy.
FAU - Rota, Emilia
AU  - Rota E
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-8235-6419
AD  - Department of Physics, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Siena, Via 
      P.A. Mattioli 4, IT-53100 Siena, Italy.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Review
DEP - 20221231
PL  - Switzerland
TA  - Animals (Basel)
JT  - Animals : an open access journal from MDPI
JID - 101635614
PMC - PMC9817852
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - Antarctic marine biota
OT  - anthropogenic contaminants
OT  - climate change
OT  - cumulative stress
OT  - fish
OT  - krill
OT  - microplastics
OT  - penguins
OT  - polar skua
OT  - seals
OT  - zoobenthos
COIS- The authors declare no conflict of interest.
EDAT- 2023/01/09 06:00
MHDA- 2023/01/09 06:01
PMCR- 2022/12/31
CRDT- 2023/01/08 01:05
PHST- 2022/11/29 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2022/12/21 00:00 [revised]
PHST- 2022/12/27 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2023/01/08 01:05 [entrez]
PHST- 2023/01/09 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2023/01/09 06:01 [medline]
PHST- 2022/12/31 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - ani13010162 [pii]
AID - animals-13-00162 [pii]
AID - 10.3390/ani13010162 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - Animals (Basel). 2022 Dec 31;13(1):162. doi: 10.3390/ani13010162.