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Environmental and land use controls of microplastic pollution along the gravel-bed Ain River (France) and its “Plastic Valley”

Water Research 2022 22 citations ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count. Score: 40 ? 0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.
Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Mohammad Wazne, André‐Marie Dendievel, André‐Marie Dendievel, André‐Marie Dendievel, André‐Marie Dendievel, André‐Marie Dendievel, Mohammad Wazne, Mohammad Wazne, Mohammad Wazne, Mohammad Wazne, Mohammad Wazne, Mohammad Wazne, Mohammad Wazne, Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Laurent Simon, Mohammad Wazne, Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Brice Mourier, Brice Mourier, Brice Mourier, Brice Mourier, Brice Mourier, Brice Mourier, Brice Mourier, Florian Mermillod‐Blondin, Florian Mermillod‐Blondin, Florian Mermillod‐Blondin, Florian Mermillod‐Blondin, Florian Mermillod‐Blondin, Florian Mermillod‐Blondin, Mohammad Wazne, Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Mohammad Wazne, Manon Vallier, Manon Vallier, Manon Vallier, Manon Vallier, Manon Vallier, Brice Mourier, Brice Mourier, Brice Mourier, Brice Mourier, Thierry Winiarski, Thierry Winiarski, Manon Vallier, Manon Vallier, Manon Vallier, Manon Vallier, Manon Vallier, Thierry Winiarski, Thierry Winiarski, Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Thierry Winiarski, Mohammad Wazne, Stefan Krause Manon Vallier, Stefan Krause Mohammad Wazne, Florian Mermillod‐Blondin, Manon Vallier, Florian Mermillod‐Blondin, Florian Mermillod‐Blondin, Florian Mermillod‐Blondin, Brice Mourier, Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Thierry Winiarski, André‐Marie Dendievel, Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Stefan Krause André‐Marie Dendievel, Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Laurent Simon, Stefan Krause Brice Mourier, Brice Mourier, André‐Marie Dendievel, Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Laurent Simon, Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Hervé Piégay, Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Mohammad Wazne, Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Hervé Piégay, Thierry Winiarski, Stefan Krause Laurent Simon, Stefan Krause Manon Vallier, Brice Mourier, Brice Mourier, Thierry Winiarski, Brice Mourier, Brice Mourier, Thierry Winiarski, Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Thierry Winiarski, Manon Vallier, Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Thierry Winiarski, Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Thierry Winiarski, Brice Mourier, Brice Mourier, Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Laurent Simon, Laurent Simon, Florian Mermillod‐Blondin, Florian Mermillod‐Blondin, André‐Marie Dendievel, Stefan Krause Stefan Krause Laurent Simon, Mohammad Wazne, Brice Mourier, Stefan Krause Florian Mermillod‐Blondin, Stefan Krause Florian Mermillod‐Blondin, Mohammad Wazne, Brice Mourier, André‐Marie Dendievel, Laurent Simon, Stefan Krause Florian Mermillod‐Blondin, Laurent Simon, Florian Mermillod‐Blondin, Brice Mourier, Hervé Piégay, Stefan Krause

Summary

Researchers examined microplastic accumulation in the gravel-bed Ain River in France, finding that land use patterns — particularly proximity to plastic manufacturing and agricultural areas — are key drivers of microplastic hotspots in river sediments and floodplains.

Polymers
Study Type Environmental

Understanding microplastic particles (MPs) accumulation and transport along rivers represents a major task due to the complexity and heterogeneity of rivers, and their interactions with their wider corridor. The identification of MPs hotspots and their potential sources is especially challenging in coarse-bed rivers transporting a wide range of particle sizes with a high degree of variability in time and space. This research focuses on the gravel-bed Ain River (Rhône River tributary, France) which is managed by means of various dams and also hosts one of the major plastic production centres in Europe (Oyonnax and Bienne Plastic Valleys). In this research, (i) Geographical Information Systems (GIS) were used to locate plastic factories and to characterise the land use of the Ain River watershed. (ii) On the field, sediment samples were extracted from the hyporheic zone (HZ) of mobile gravel bar heads, while hydro-sedimentary settings were measured in order to describe site conditions. Sampling sites were especially established in downwelling areas (i.e. where the surface water entered the hyporheic zone), upstream and downstream of dams and plastic factories. (iii) After density separation and organic matter digestion of sediment, MPs were characterised with a µFTIR device followed by data processing via the siMPle software. This work highlighted the trapping efficiency of alluvial bars for MPs. The highest MPs concentrations were found along the Plastic Valleys (up to 4400 MPs/kg), while the lower river was less contaminated by MPs. After grain-size correction, a significant breakpoint was identified in the area of the main dams, revealing their major influence on MPs distribution. The variability in MPs concentrations and types suggested a local origin for most of MPs. A particular feature was the dominance of polypropylene (PP) which appears as a critical industrial heritage as the studied region is specialised in the manufacturing of hard plastics. Indeed, multivariate analyses also revealed that MPs concentrations and types were mostly driven by the vicinity of plastic factories and urban areas. This relationship between the land use, the presence of dams and MPs characteristics provides key results for the MPs assessment and the improvement of management issues along coarse-bed rivers.

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