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Occurrence, potential sources, and ecological risk assessment of microplastics in the inland river basins in Northern China

Marine Pollution Bulletin 2024 23 citations ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count. Score: 55 ? 0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.

Yan Zhang, Mufan Gan, Mufan Gan, Mufan Gan, Mufan Gan, Mufan Gan, Mufan Gan, Mufan Gan, Mufan Gan, Chengqian Zhang, Yan Zhang, Lingzhou Cui, Peng Shi, Peng Shi, Mufan Gan, Peng Shi, Mufan Gan, Peng Shi, Peng Shi, Lingzhou Cui, Lingzhou Cui, Lingzhou Cui, Lingzhou Cui, Lingzhou Cui, Lingzhou Cui, Chengqian Zhang, Lingzhou Cui, Lingzhou Cui, Chengqian Zhang, Chengqian Zhang, Chengqian Zhang, Jiahua Guo, Jiahua Guo

Summary

Researchers surveyed microplastic pollution in a typical urban river system in Northern China, examining both surface water and sediment samples. They found that river sediments contained dramatically more microplastics than surface water, acting as a sink for this pollution, with polypropylene and polyethylene being the most common types. The study suggests that small fiber and fragment-shaped particles under 0.5 mm dominate these environments, likely originating from everyday plastic products and wastewater discharge.

Polymers

PE PP

Study Type Environmental

Microplastics (MPs) are the pollutants, found widely across various environmental media. However, studies on the MP pollution in urban rivers and the necessary risk assessments remain limited. In this study, the abundance and characteristics of microplastics in a typical urban river were examined to evaluate their distribution, sources, and ecological risks. It was observed that the abundance of MPs in sediments (220-2840 items·kg dry weight (DW)) was much higher than that in surface water (2.9-10.3 items·L), indicating that the sediment is the "sink" of river MPs. Surface water and sediment were dominated by small particle size MPs (< 0.5 mm). Fiber and debris were common shapes of MPs in rivers and sediments. The microplastics in river water and sediments were primarily white and transparent, respectively. Polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) were the major polymers found.

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