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Environmental Sources
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Small microplastics have much higher mass concentrations than large microplastics at the surface of nine major European rivers
Environmental Science and Pollution Research2024
18 citations
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Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count.
Score: 50
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0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Magali Albignac
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Magali Albignac
Lata Soccalingame,
Jean-François, Ghiglione,
Lata Soccalingame,
Jean-François, Ghiglione,
Jean-François, Ghiglione,
Louisa Landebrit,
Louisa Landebrit,
Maialen Palazot,
Maialen Palazot,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Maialen Palazot,
Maialen Palazot,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Lata Soccalingame,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Lata Soccalingame,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Maialen Palazot,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Louisa Landebrit,
Magali Albignac
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Louisa Landebrit,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Maialen Palazot,
Maialen Palazot,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Magali Albignac
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Maialen Palazot,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Lata Soccalingame,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Maialen Palazot,
Maialen Palazot,
Maialen Palazot,
Maialen Palazot,
Wolfgang Ludwig,
Lata Soccalingame,
Lata Soccalingame,
Maialen Palazot,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Jean-François, Ghiglione,
Wolfgang Ludwig,
Magali Albignac
Alexandra ter Halle,
Jean-François, Ghiglione,
R. Rubio Sánchez,
Maialen Palazot,
R. Rubio Sánchez,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Maialen Palazot,
Lata Soccalingame,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Wolfgang Ludwig,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Maialen Palazot,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Maialen Palazot,
Jean-François, Ghiglione,
Jean-François, Ghiglione,
Magali Albignac
Magali Albignac
Magali Albignac
Alexandra ter Halle,
Magali Albignac
Alexandra ter Halle,
Magali Albignac
Magali Albignac
Lata Soccalingame,
Lata Soccalingame,
Lata Soccalingame,
Lata Soccalingame,
Louisa Landebrit,
Louisa Landebrit,
Maialen Palazot,
Maialen Palazot,
Maialen Palazot,
Lata Soccalingame,
Lata Soccalingame,
Lata Soccalingame,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Lata Soccalingame,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Louisa Landebrit,
Louisa Landebrit,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Maialen Palazot,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Maialen Palazot,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Maialen Palazot,
Maialen Palazot,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Jean-François, Ghiglione,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Jean-François, Ghiglione,
Jean-François, Ghiglione,
Maialen Palazot,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Jean-François, Ghiglione,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Maialen Palazot,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Wolfgang Ludwig,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Jean-François, Ghiglione,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Jean-François, Ghiglione,
Lata Soccalingame,
Lata Soccalingame,
Magali Albignac
Magali Albignac
Magali Albignac
Alexandra ter Halle,
Magali Albignac
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Magali Albignac
Jean-François, Ghiglione,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Magali Albignac
Magali Albignac
Alexandra ter Halle,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Jean-François, Ghiglione,
Jean-François, Ghiglione,
Jean-François, Ghiglione,
Wolfgang Ludwig,
Wolfgang Ludwig,
Stephane Bruzeau,
Stephane Bruzeau,
Magali Albignac
Alexandra ter Halle,
Jean-François, Ghiglione,
Wolfgang Ludwig,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Jean-François, Ghiglione,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Wolfgang Ludwig,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Jean-François, Ghiglione,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Wolfgang Ludwig,
Wolfgang Ludwig,
Wolfgang Ludwig,
Wolfgang Ludwig,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Jean-François, Ghiglione,
Jean-François, Ghiglione,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Jean-François, Ghiglione,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Jean-François, Ghiglione,
Jean-François, Ghiglione,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Jean-François, Ghiglione,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Jean-François, Ghiglione,
Magali Albignac
Jean-François, Ghiglione,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Jean-François, Ghiglione,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Jean-François, Ghiglione,
Jean-François, Ghiglione,
Wolfgang Ludwig,
Wolfgang Ludwig,
Jean-François, Ghiglione,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Maialen Palazot,
Maialen Palazot,
Jean-François, Ghiglione,
Jean-François, Ghiglione,
Jean-François, Ghiglione,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Jean-François, Ghiglione,
Jean-François, Ghiglione,
Jean-François, Ghiglione,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Jean-François, Ghiglione,
Jean-François, Ghiglione,
Kedzierski, Mikaël,
Maialen Palazot,
Maialen Palazot,
Lata Soccalingame,
Lata Soccalingame,
Wolfgang Ludwig,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Alexandra ter Halle,
Magali Albignac
Summary
Researchers compared large and small microplastic concentrations at the surface of nine major European rivers using standardized sampling protocols. The study found that small microplastics (25-500 micrometers) had much higher mass concentrations than large microplastics, with ratios up to 1,000 times greater in some rivers, suggesting that current monitoring focused on larger particles may significantly underestimate total microplastic pollution.
Understanding the fates and impacts of microplastics requires information on their sizes, polymer types, concentrations, and spatial and temporal distributions. Here, we focused on large (LMPs, 500 µm to 5 mm) and small (SMPs, 25 to 500 µm) microplastics sampled with the exact same protocol in nine of the major European rivers during the seven months of the Tara Microplastic Expedition. Attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and pyrolysis coupled with gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (Py-GC-MS) analyses were used to determine the microplastics contents by number and mass. The median LMP concentration was 6.7 particles m, which was lower than those in other regions of the world (America and Asia). The SMP mass concentration was much higher to the LMP concentrations, with SMP/LMP ratios up to 1000 in some rivers. We did not observe a systematic positive effect of urban areas for the two size classes or polymers; this could be explained by the fact that the transport of microplastic is highly heterogeneous in rivers. We believe that this study has important implications for predictive models of plastics distribution and fate in aquatic environments.