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Refining the Aquatic Microplastic Risk Assessment Framework through Dynamic Flux Simulation and Ecological Thresholds

Journal of Hazardous Materials 2026 Score: 40 ? 0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.

Sansan Feng, Sansan Feng, Sansan Feng, H B Li, H B Li, H B Li, H B Li, H B Li, H B Li, Sansan Feng, Sansan Feng, Sansan Feng, Sansan Feng, H B Li, Sansan Feng, Sansan Feng, Sansan Feng, Sansan Feng, H B Li, Sansan Feng, Xiaohan Zhang Yongquan Xue, Hongwei Lu, Hongwei Lu, Hongwei Lu, Hongwei Lu, Hongwei Lu, Hongwei Lu, Hongwei Lu, Hongwei Lu, Hongwei Lu, Hongwei Lu, Hongwei Lu, Sansan Feng, Sansan Feng, Sansan Feng, Hongwei Lu, H B Li, Sansan Feng, H B Li, Sansan Feng, H B Li, Xiaohan Zhang Xiaohan Zhang H B Li, Xiaohan Zhang, K. Zhu, H B Li, H B Li, H B Li, Kaiwen Cheng, Xiaohan Zhang Kaiwen Cheng, H B Li, Xiaohan Zhang Xiaohan Zhang

Summary

Researchers developed a coupled hydrological-transport model and species-sensitivity-based risk framework for riverine microplastics, applying it to the Jinsha River on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and finding that spatially adjusting ecological risk thresholds based on local species richness places 13–43% of the watershed at medium-to-high microplastic risk.

To address the limitations of existing models in simulating dynamics across arbitrary river cross-sections and the tendency of traditional assessments to neglect the spatial heterogeneity of receptor species, this study developed a microplastic flux simulation (MFS) model and a species sensitivity distribution-based ecological risk assessment (SSD-ERA) method. By coupling hydrological processes with microplastic emission and transport mechanisms, the MFS model enables dynamic simulation with strong predictive performance. Concurrently, the SSD-ERA method overcomes uniform-threshold limitations by dynamically adjusting risk thresholds based on local aquatic species richness. Application to the Jinsha River on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau demonstrated strong agreement between simulated and observed values. Results indicated that surface-layer microplastic flux ranged from 0.66 to 276.82 tons/yr (95% CI: 0.54-334.58 tons/yr), placing 13.04-43.47% of the watershed at medium-to-high risk. This study highlights the critical role of spatial threshold adjustment, providing a refined methodological framework for future aquatic microplastic flux and risk modeling.

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