Partitioning of Hydrophobic Organic Contaminants and Microbial Communities on Microplastics
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W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 2019 Partitioning of Hydrophobic Organic Contaminants and Microbial Communities on Microplastics Kelley Ann Uhlig William & Mary - Virginia Institute of Marine Science, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the Environmental Sciences Commons, and the Marine Biology Commons Recommended Citation Uhlig, Kelley Ann, "Partitioning of Hydrophobic Organic Contaminants and Microbial Communities on Microplastics" (2019). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1563898639. http://dx.doi.org/10.25773/v5-wpxh-kx69 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Partitioning of Hydrophobic Organic Contaminants and Microbial Communities on Microplastics A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the School of Marine Science The College of William and Mary in Virginia In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science by Kelley Ann Uhlig May 2019 APPROVAL PAGE This thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Kelley Ann Uhlig Approved by the Committee, April 2019 Robert C. Hale, Ph.D. Committee Chair / Advisor Kirk J. Havens, Ph.D. Drew R. Luellen, Ph.D. Bongkeun Song, Ph.D. For my past and future self. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION ............................................................................................................................. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................... vii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................ viii GENERAL INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................... 2 Plastics in the Marine Environment ....................................................................................... 2 Fate & Effects ....................................................................................................................... 5 Rationale ............................................................................................................................... 9 Tables ................................................................................................................................... 11 Figures .................................................................................................................................. 12 References ............................................................................................................................ 13 CHAPTER 1 – Comparative Partitioning Of Hydrophobic Organic Contaminants To Petroleum- And Bio-Based Microplastics ............................................................................. 17 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 18 Materials and Methods .......................................................................................................... 21 Results and Discussion ......................................................................................................... 25 Conclusions .......................................................................................................................... 31 Tables ................................................................................................................................... 35 Figures .................................................................................................................................. 43 References ............................................................................................................................ 49 CHAPTER 2 – Characterizing the Microbial Diversity of Estuarine Biofilms on Microplastics ............................................................................................................................................................. 57 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 58 Materials and Methods .......................................................................................................... 62 Results .................................................................................................................................. 66 Discussion ............................................................................................................................. 71 Conclusions .......................................................................................................................... 80 v Tables ................................................................................................................................... 82 Figures .................................................................................................................................. 102 References ............................................................................................................................ 107 POLICY CONSIDERATIONS .................................................................................................... 114 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 114 Considerations for bio-based plastics ................................................................................... 115 Future considerations ........................................................................................................... 117 References ............................................................................................................................ 119 VITA ........................................................................................................................................... 120 vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my advisor, Rob Hale, for taking a chance on me and allowing me the space to pursue my interests. Rob, you have been a constant pillar of support and understanding, an endless source of knowledge, and I couldn’t have done this without you. You’ve encouraged me to think critically, Second, I would like to acknowledge my committee members for their endless patience and support; Bongkeun Song, Drew Luellen, and Kirk Havens. BK, thank you for the guidance through the new and wonderful world of molecular biology, for taking the time to call me from Korea to help me sort through the mess I had made, your endless patience when my efforts did not seem to be paying off, and your advice and guidance for how to make an impact with this work. Thank you so much Drew for your knowledge and support with all things GC/MS, your no-nonsense attitude, and of course, for beer. None of this work would have happened without you. Last but not least, thank you Kirk for keeping things in perspective, for your encouragement and understanding, There are so many people at VIMS who have helped me over the years. At CCRM, thanks to Kory Angstadt & Dave Stanhope for providing my initial PHA stock, 3D printed slabs of plastic, and for always being great to talk with. Thank you to Jeff Sheild’s and Juan Pablo Huchin-Main for the blue crabs. To my south CBH 3rd floor family: Ellen Harvey, you are the rock of our lab! I wouldn’t have been able to find anything or even know where to start with this project without you and your keen advice. Mark LaGuardia, you’ve always been encouraging and supportive, I’m so glad you’re able to turn your years of hard work in a PhD! Matt Mainor, I always enjoyed our conversations about sailing, technology, you name it. George Vadas, thank you for the advice over the years and for loaning me several more separatory funnels so I that I could get my extractions done faster. Thank you to Mike Unger, for making me think more critically about science in genral. I continue to ask and will always ask, “What’s the question?” A huge thank you to Gail Scott for troubleshooting all of the things. My gratitude to the Song lab group: Samantha Fortin, Miguel Semedo, Ken Czapla, Stephanie Wilson, Renia Passie and Michele Cochran for answering so many of my questions and letting me invade your space. Thank you Vaskar Nepal for guiding me through PERMANOVA when I was so lost. Thank you to my partner in life and love, Chase Long, for always believing in me even when I didn’t believe in myself. Where would I be without you! I’m not sure but I would likely be hungry. I’m grateful to good friends, particularly my Tyndall Point family (Pamela Braff, Alison Bazylinski, and Alex Baruch), for making graduate school one of the best times in my life. Special thanks to Reviewer 1 from my EPA STAR application. Your harsh words telling me that my project was not worthy of a Master’s degree and that I would not succeed in an environmental science career were a constant reminder of why I had to accomplish the goals I laid out for myself. vii ABSTRACT Microplastic contamination of aquatic environments has only recently caught the attention of scientists, regulators and the public.