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Extensive estuarine sedimentary storage of plastics from city to sea: Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, USA
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Researchers conducted a system-scale assessment of microplastic storage in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, sampling both shoreline and seabed sediments and finding that estuarine systems are significant long-term repositories for plastic pollution transported from urban watersheds.
Plastics are an important new component of the global sedimentary system, and much concern exists about their transport, fate and impact. This study presents the first system-scale assessment of sedimentary storage of microplastic for an estuary, Narragansett Bay, RI (USA), and the measurements of shoreline and seabed sediments add to the growing body of literature demonstrating high coastal concentrations. Microplastic concentrations in sediments ranged from 396 to over 13,000 MP particles kg dry sediment (DW), comparable to other shoreline and seafloor sites located near urban centers. As previously reported for fine sediment and other pollutants, estuarine plastic storage is extensive in Narragansett Bay, especially within the upper urbanized reaches. Over 16 trillion pieces of plastic weighing near 1000 tonnes is calculated to be stored in surface sediments of the Bay based on a power-law fit. This work highlights that estuaries may serve as a significant filter for plastic pollution, and this trapping may have negative consequences for these valuable, productive ecosystems but offer potential for efficient removal.
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Exponentially increasing microplastic accumulation in an urban estuary: insights from the Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island seafloor
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Researchers found that microplastic concentrations in Narragansett Bay sediments have increased exponentially since the 1940s, mirroring global plastic production trends, with marsh sediments accumulating microplastics at ten to fifty times higher concentrations than nearby seabed sites. An estimated 2,300 to 3,000 tonnes of microplastics have accumulated in the bay's sediments over the past century, with nearly all sampling sites now exceeding harm thresholds for benthic organisms.
Estuarine Sedimentary Microplastics from City to Sea: Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, USA
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This is a duplicate dataset entry for the Narragansett Bay estuarine microplastics study (same as 45413). The dataset documents microplastic concentrations and polymer types found in sediments from shoreline to offshore locations in the bay. These data support understanding of how microplastics move from urban land sources through estuaries toward the ocean.
Microplastic in three urban estuaries, China
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Researchers surveyed three urban estuaries in China and found microplastics throughout, with concentrations and types reflecting the combined influence of surrounding city density, stormwater runoff, and tidal mixing.
The fate of plastic litter within estuarine compartments: An overview of current knowledge for the transboundary issue to guide future assessments
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Researchers reviewed global knowledge on plastic fate within estuaries and found plastic concentrations reaching thousands of items per cubic meter in water and sediment, while identifying major methodological gaps — particularly that microfibers are consistently undersampled and that studies rarely account for ecological trophic gradients or the physicochemical dynamics driving plastic distribution and bioavailability.
Quantifying and source tracking microplastics in an estuarine environment
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Researchers quantified microplastics and tracked their sources in the Raritan River estuary in New Jersey, sampling along a transect from the river through the estuary plume and into the ocean under different seasonal flow conditions. They identified wastewater effluents and stormwater runoff as the dominant land-based sources contributing to estuarine microplastic contamination. The study advances understanding of microplastic behavior and source attribution in a complex estuarine system.
Research digests by email
When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.