Microplastic Pollution and Its Ecological Risks in the Xisha Islands, South China Sea
China is facing increasing marine microplastic pollution. Despite the fact that the South China Sea is the largest marine area in China, the ecological danger and present state of microplastic contamination in this region have not been systematically and comprehensively investigated. This study anal...
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MDPI AG
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Toxics |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2305-6304/13/3/205 |
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| author | Wenchao Wei Yun Zhang Licheng Wang Qiao Xing Jun Xiang Yuquan Zhang Qifei Peng Yongfu Chen Yufeng Hu Yini Ma Ling Mo |
| author_facet | Wenchao Wei Yun Zhang Licheng Wang Qiao Xing Jun Xiang Yuquan Zhang Qifei Peng Yongfu Chen Yufeng Hu Yini Ma Ling Mo |
| author_sort | Wenchao Wei |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | China is facing increasing marine microplastic pollution. Despite the fact that the South China Sea is the largest marine area in China, the ecological danger and present state of microplastic contamination in this region have not been systematically and comprehensively investigated. This study analyzed the abundance, distribution, and characteristics of microplastics in different environmental media and biological samples from the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea, and then the ecological risk assessment of microplastic pollution in this area was conducted. The findings indicated that the quantities of sediments, soil, water, fish, and birds were 41.56 ± 19.12 items/kg, 92.94 ± 111.05 items/kg, 2.89 ± 1.92 items/L, 2.57 ± 2.12 items/ind, and 1.702 ± 1.50 items/ind, respectively. By evaluating the pollution load index (PLI), polymer hazard index (PHI), and potential ecological risk index (PERI), the PLI of the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea as a whole indicated that the hazard level was slightly polluted, the PHI was at a high-risk level, and the PERI samples were at no risk, except for the soil and seawater, which were at a medium-risk level. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-053fada362c44d96bf2e43d14118df7e |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2305-6304 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Toxics |
| spelling | doaj-art-053fada362c44d96bf2e43d14118df7e2025-08-20T03:43:51ZengMDPI AGToxics2305-63042025-03-0113320510.3390/toxics13030205Microplastic Pollution and Its Ecological Risks in the Xisha Islands, South China SeaWenchao Wei0Yun Zhang1Licheng Wang2Qiao Xing3Jun Xiang4Yuquan Zhang5Qifei Peng6Yongfu Chen7Yufeng Hu8Yini Ma9Ling Mo10Hainan Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Haikou 571127, ChinaHainan Medical University—The University of Hong Kong Joint Laboratory of Tropical Infectious Diseases, Key Laboratory of Tropical Translational Medicine of Ministry of Education, School of Basic Medicine and Life Sciences, Hainan Medical University, Haikou 571199, ChinaHainan Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Haikou 571127, ChinaHainan Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Haikou 571127, ChinaHainan Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Haikou 571127, ChinaHainan Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Haikou 571127, ChinaHainan Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Haikou 571127, ChinaHainan Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Haikou 571127, ChinaHainan Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Haikou 571127, ChinaSchool of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, ChinaHainan Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Haikou 571127, ChinaChina is facing increasing marine microplastic pollution. Despite the fact that the South China Sea is the largest marine area in China, the ecological danger and present state of microplastic contamination in this region have not been systematically and comprehensively investigated. This study analyzed the abundance, distribution, and characteristics of microplastics in different environmental media and biological samples from the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea, and then the ecological risk assessment of microplastic pollution in this area was conducted. The findings indicated that the quantities of sediments, soil, water, fish, and birds were 41.56 ± 19.12 items/kg, 92.94 ± 111.05 items/kg, 2.89 ± 1.92 items/L, 2.57 ± 2.12 items/ind, and 1.702 ± 1.50 items/ind, respectively. By evaluating the pollution load index (PLI), polymer hazard index (PHI), and potential ecological risk index (PERI), the PLI of the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea as a whole indicated that the hazard level was slightly polluted, the PHI was at a high-risk level, and the PERI samples were at no risk, except for the soil and seawater, which were at a medium-risk level.https://www.mdpi.com/2305-6304/13/3/205microplasticcharacterization of microplastic pollutionecological risk assessment |
| spellingShingle | Wenchao Wei Yun Zhang Licheng Wang Qiao Xing Jun Xiang Yuquan Zhang Qifei Peng Yongfu Chen Yufeng Hu Yini Ma Ling Mo Microplastic Pollution and Its Ecological Risks in the Xisha Islands, South China Sea Toxics microplastic characterization of microplastic pollution ecological risk assessment |
| title | Microplastic Pollution and Its Ecological Risks in the Xisha Islands, South China Sea |
| title_full | Microplastic Pollution and Its Ecological Risks in the Xisha Islands, South China Sea |
| title_fullStr | Microplastic Pollution and Its Ecological Risks in the Xisha Islands, South China Sea |
| title_full_unstemmed | Microplastic Pollution and Its Ecological Risks in the Xisha Islands, South China Sea |
| title_short | Microplastic Pollution and Its Ecological Risks in the Xisha Islands, South China Sea |
| title_sort | microplastic pollution and its ecological risks in the xisha islands south china sea |
| topic | microplastic characterization of microplastic pollution ecological risk assessment |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2305-6304/13/3/205 |
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