Dissolved Pollutants in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, December 2021

Abstract

The intent of this study was to identify and quantify dissolved chemical pollutants in the Northeastern Pacific Ocean. Samples were taken along a transect from Hawaii to San Diego that passed through the southern edge of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Determining pollutant loads can help with assessing the risk level of organisms in the open ocean to harmful chemical exposure. I utilized solid phase extraction to isolate dissolved pollutants in surface samples and identified the pollutants using gas chromatography – time of flight mass spectrometry. I expected to detect plasticizers and other persistent organic pollutants known to leach from plastics but also hypothesized that I might detect prescription drugs and non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). I found plasticizers in all samples, with diethyl phthalate being the most abundant, consistently ranking within the top 10 most abundant chemicals for every sample. These identified compounds landed in the range of .5 to 3 parts per million (PPM). No NSAIDS were found. Despite a negative slope of distance from shore to compounds identified, the transect had a lack of significant differences in chemical abundance and concentration between stations. This suggests a homogenous distribution of abundant anthropogenic compounds.