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Tidal redistribution of microplastics in megacity estuaries: hydrodynamic control in densely populated coastal regions
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Researchers tracked microplastics in the Shenzhen River estuary during tidal cycles, measuring how particles moved with incoming and outgoing tides. Surface and underwater samples showed common plastics like PET, PE, and PP shifted position based on tides and water layering, with heavier PET particles stirred up during mid-to-high tides while lighter plastics stayed near the surface. The study suggests plastic pollution in this estuary cycles around rather than steadily building up.
While global attention has centered on persistent microplastic (MP) hotspots, estuaries with strong tidal redistribution but no lasting concentration peaks remain poorly understood despite their critical role in land–sea MP exchange. We present a spring-tide flood–ebb sequence assessment of MP dynamics in the cross-border Shenzhen River, integrating coordinated surface and subsurface sampling. MP abundances ranged from 4.87 to 15.88 items/m 3 (0.44–29.03 mg/m 3 ) in manta-trawl surface samples and 110–340 items/m 3 (92.36–673.66 mg/m 3 ) in fixed-depth pump-filtration samples collected at 30 cm at the estuarine outlet. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene (PE), and polypropylene (PP) dominated, showing density- and morphology-driven vertical sorting. Our results revealed a dual-phase redistribution regulated by tidal forcing and salinity stratification, with PET resuspension during mid-to-high tides and lighter polymers retained near the surface. The Shenzhen River thus represents a dynamically responsive estuarine interface in which pollutant fate is governed by cyclic redistribution rather than net loading, providing a basis for the proposed Tide–Microplastic–Governance Triangle framework for adaptive MP management in transboundary estuaries.
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