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Assessment of Microplastic Pollution in Urban and Rural Freshwater Systems: Sources, Distribution, Ecological Risks, Monitoring Approaches, and Management Strategies
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This review summarizes existing research comparing microplastic pollution in city and rural rivers, streams and lakes. It found that cities mainly contribute microplastics through wastewater and industrial waste, while rural areas add pollution via farm plastics and runoff, with effects on water life and inconsistent testing methods across studies.
Microplastic pollution has become a major environmental problem in freshwater ecosystems due to the widespread use, persistence and continuous fragmentation of plastic materials. Although there has been extensive research on microplastic pollution in freshwater ecosystems, the land use, anthropogenic activities and hydrological conditions and monitoring methods in freshwater are not the same in urban and rural freshwater systems. We present this study in a literature-based comparative study of microplastic pollution in urban and rural freshwater systems on the basis of major sources, distribution patterns, transport pathways, particle characteristics, monitoring techniques, ecological issues, and management approaches. We have reviewed the published literature and synthesized the major routes through which microplastics are transported and deposited in freshwater systems and the factors that contribute to this process. Urban systems are generally associated with wastewater discharge, industrial activities, stormwater pollution, domestic sources of plastic waste and urban plastic waste, whereas rural systems may have a lot of plastic pollution through agricultural plastics, surface runoff, irrigation practices, rural wastewater, and atmospheric deposition. The review also finds that microplastic abundance and properties of samples vary substantially because of sampling methods, particle size limits, extraction methods, and polymer detection. Potential ecological implications include ingestion by aquatic organisms, physical and physiological effects of microplastics, food-web transport and the presence of other environmental contaminants. The synthesis stresses that standardization of methodology and better assessment of rural freshwater systems, seasonal and long-term research, and watershed-level assessments are the focus of the research. Finally, an integrated urban-rural perspective is necessary for better assessment and interventions to reduce microplastic contamination in freshwater ecosystems and water bodies.
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