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Effects of micro-plastics in non-point source pollution on various water sources, sediments, and fishes
Summary
This Korean study measured microplastic contamination in river water, sediment, and fish from the Ansan River, finding plastics in all sample types and correlating levels between carp and river crabs. The findings suggest that both fish and crustaceans in this river accumulate microplastics from non-point pollution sources, with potential implications for local food safety.
Abstract Detection of micro-plastics (MPs) was performed for various water sources, sediments, and fishes using FTIR, microscopic analysis, and image mapping. To derive correlations between MPs in carp and river crabs in Ansan River (AR), the Pearson correlation coefficients were determined. Carp and river crabs had coefficients of 0.888 and 0.724 AR, respectively. Therefore, AR, carp, and river crabs had a high positive correlation. The MPs detected in sediments were higher than those in main-waterway (MW) and rivers, which was the opposite the MPs in water sources. It is believed that MPs are carried toward shore by ocean tide. The size of most of the sediment MPs was 20-49 µm, representing 64.1% of the entire population. MP pollution by non-point pollution sources (NPS) was investigated, with abundances of MPs between the dry season and rainy season with differences of 2 to 3 times in AR and Ansan River sediment (ARS), respectively. The plastics detected in this study were PET, PP, and PE, which originate from synthetic fibers, scrubs, and packing material. The MPs of various water sources, sediments, fishes, and NPS were detected in this study. It was determined that the inflow of MPs into rivers could have been due to non-point source pollutants from household items, roads, plants, and soil around the water sources.