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Evaluation of vertical distribution characteristics of microplastics under 20 μm in lake and river waters in South Korea
Summary
Researchers developed a method for measuring very small microplastics (under 20 µm) in lake and river waters in South Korea and found they were widely distributed across different depths. Smaller microplastics are harder to sample and are largely missed by standard net-based methods. The study emphasizes that conventional monitoring approaches likely undercount microplastic contamination in freshwater systems.
Abstract Following the alarming reports of microplastic pollution in the marine environment, increased attention has been given to microplastics in other environmental media. Despite the attention, there is limited information on the effects of microplastics distribution in freshwater systems. Further, because the size of microplastics varies widely in the environment, the commonly used sampling devices are not suitable for selectively extracting microplastics without causing cross-contamination. Thus, we developed a suitable device for microplastics of size 5–20 µm and studied microplastics distribution in freshwater at various depths by considering various types of microplastics and aqueous systems. Lake and river, two major water sources in South Korea, were selected for the study of microplastics distribution in water system. The microplastics distribution characteristics in both water systems showed that polypropylene and polyethylene were the most abundant across all depths because of their production volume. Plastic types with higher density were found only at the lower layers, and polystyrene was found in the upper layers because of the environmental effects on its buoyancy caused pore diameter and surface area. The lake and river had higher microplastics distribution in the lower layer and upper layer, respectively. This was because the flow rate in river was higher than that of lake. The higher flow rate reduced the settling velocity in river. Thus, hydrodynamic stability influences the vertical distribution and concentrations of microplastics in the water systems. These results are expected to be used for understanding the behavioral characteristics of microplastics in water systems and to manage water sources.