Are Polymer-Based Single-Use Face Masks Subject to Biofouling in Seawater?

A. V. Bondarenko*, L. I. Ryabushko, A. A. Blaginina

A.O. Kovalevsky Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas of RAS, Sevastopol, Russia

* e-mail: gonzurassa@mail.ru

Abstract

The paper presents for the first time the results of an experimental study of the species composition and quantitative characteristics: species richness (S), abundance (N) and biomass (B) of the microalgae and cyanobacteria in the fouling of synthetic single-use face masks as a technogenic substrate. Fouling experiments were conducted for two months and for one year in 2021–2022 in Karantinnaya Bay (the Black Sea). The surface of masks and microfouling suspensions were studied using light and electron microscopy. In total, 48 taxa from 5 phyla were noted: Cyanoprocaryota – 3 species, Bacillariophyta – 36, Dinophyta – 6, Haptophyta – 2, Ochrophyta – 1. After a two-month exposure of masks, 30 species were found, and 40 species were found after a one-year exposure, 22 species were shared. For the first time for the bay, we have identified benthic species of diatoms Cocconeis guttata and Karayevia amoena. Out of 14 benthic typical colonial fouling species of diatoms, Tabularia fasciculata was on all masks with 100 % occurrence. Solitary-living species were also recorded among the frequently encountered ones: potentially toxic Halamphora coffeiformis and bentoplanktonic Cylindrotheca closterium. The features of the mask fouling at different exposure periods in the sea are the absence of the formation of diatoms colonies, unlike fouling on other anthropogenic and natural substrates, and low quantitative characteristics at different periods: after a two-month exposure, the corresponding values were: S – 10–15 species, N – 9200–13100 cells/cm2, and B – 0.001–0.02 mg/cm2; after a one-year exposure, the same were: S – 8–14 species, N – 4900–8400 cells/cm2, B – 0.01–0.03 mg/cm2.

Keywords

diatoms, cyanobacteria, microalgae, fouling, single-use face masks, Crimea, coastal waters, Black Sea

Acknowledgments

The work was performed under state assignment of IBSS of RAS “Research of control mechanisms for production processes in biotechnological complexes with the aim of developing scientific foundations for obtaining biologically active substances and technical products of marine genesis”, state registration no. 121030300149-0. We would like to express our gratitude to Chief Research Associate, Dr.Sci. (Biol.), V. I. Ryabushko for the idea of studying and support, to S. V. Shchurov for sampling and hydrological indicators, and to V. N. Lishaev for processing the material in the SEM.

For citation

Bondarenko, A.V., Ryabushko, L.I. and Blaginina, A.A., 2023. Are Polymer-Based Single-Use Face Masks Subject to Biofouling in Seawater? Ecological Safety of Coastal and Shelf Zones of Sea, (3), pp. 114–128.

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