Over the past two years, the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium has supported a survey of microplastic abundance in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina and Winyah Bay, South Carolina. This study indicated that microplastics are ubiquitous in these estuaries and that plastic particles have negative impact on estuarine invertebrates. Intertidal beaches in Charleston Harbor were found to have significantly higher levels of microplastics than beaches in Winyah Bay. The most common particles observed in both Charleston Harbor and Winyah Bay are black plastic fragments. The prevalence of these black plastic fragments in these two South Carolina estuaries is unique.
This project will extend the knowledge of microplastic contamination in coastal South Carolina by continuing study of microplastic contamination in Charleston Harbor and Winyah Bay. Specifically, the research will characterize the black plastic fragment debris from Charleston Harbor and Winyah Bay and the innate toxicity of black fragments to grass shrimp, copepods, and mummichogs. Additionally, the sources of microplastics in Charleston Harbor will be investigated. The results of this research will be used to generate a series of effect assessment relationships to quantitatively describe impacts of microplastics to three ecologically important estuarine species. This project will also train graduate students at the Citadel and Clemson University. Findings of the study will be shared with resource managers, the scientific community and the general public.
Research Results
Au, SA, CM Lee, JE Weinstein, P van den Hurk, SJ Klaine. “Trophic transfer of microplastics in aquatic ecosystems: identifying critical research needs.” Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, 2017.
Gray, AD, and JE Weinstein. “Size and shape dependent effects of microplastic particles on adult daggerblade grass shrimp, Palaemonetes pugio.” Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 2017.
Gray, AD, H Wertz, RL Leads, JE Weinstein. “Microplastic in two South Carolina estuaries: occurrence, distribution, and composition.” Marine Pollution Bulletin, 2018.
Au, SA. “Toxicity of Microplastics to Aquatic Organisms.” Ph.D. diss., Clemson University, 2017.
Leads, RL. “Microplastic Debris in Charleston Harbor: Identifying Sources and Assessing Effects on Grass Shrimp (Palaemonetes pugio) Immune Function.” Master’s thesis, College of Charleston, 2018.