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The estuarine plastics budget: A conceptual model and meta-analysis of microplastic abundance in estuarine systems
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This meta-analysis examines how microplastics move through estuaries on their way to the ocean, finding that these transitional waterways act as both transport routes and temporary storage areas for plastic debris. Understanding microplastic behavior in estuaries matters because many communities rely on estuarine waters for fishing, recreation, and sometimes drinking water.
Rivers and estuaries are a key transport pathway for microplastics to enter the world's oceans. Despite this, knowledge of the fate of plastic debris in estuaries is limited. Our study assesses the current state of knowledge on the distribution of microplastic debris in estuaries and their intertidal habitats. The literature is reviewed, and an estuarine plastics conceptual model is presented. The conceptual model is populated with data to show the globally averaged standing stocks of microplastic (<5 mm) debris in estuarine waters and sediments. Estuarine plastic debris studies have previously focused on subtidal sediment and surface waters more than intertidal habitats. Estimated mean microplastic abundance is found to be greater (H = 53.136, P = 0.000175) per volume of sediment than per volume of water, although there are large standard deviations within habitats and some caveats regarding variation in methods and limited data in published studies. We found that the most commonly recovered microplastics align with the most commonly used polymers, and that the rates of microplastic transfer between estuarine compartments remain poorly understood. This study informs global plastic transport models by demonstrating the ability of estuaries to trap large quantities of microplastic debris, but substantial differences in the methodologies between estuarine microplastic studies limit the value of global assessments of estuarine microplastics. The main recommendations from this study focus on improving data availability and standardisation to better enable study comparisons and to improve our ability to examine global trends.
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Study on the Mass Concentration Distributions of Marine Microplastics in Estuaries and Coastal Areas
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Researchers characterized the mass concentration distribution of marine microplastics in estuarine and coastal environments, measuring spatial gradients between river mouths and open coastal waters and identifying estuaries as major transition zones for microplastic flux.
Transport mechanisms and fate of microplastics in estuarine compartments: A review
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This review analyzes how tides, river flow, density, biofouling, and sediment dynamics influence the transport and fate of microplastics in estuaries, identifying these transitional zones as both temporary sinks and conduits for plastic pollution.
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.
Modelling Microplastic Dynamics in Estuaries: A Comprehensive Review, Challenges and Recommendations
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This comprehensive review examines how process-based computer models have been used to simulate microplastic transport and fate in estuaries — the complex, tidal zones where rivers meet the sea. It evaluates different modeling approaches for capturing hydrodynamics, particle behavior, and interactions with sediment, identifying key gaps and inconsistencies in how microplastic properties are represented. Better estuarine models are needed to predict where plastics accumulate, how long they persist, and what risks they pose to coastal ecosystems and the communities that depend on them.
Hydrodynamic controls on microplastic transport in tidal estuaries: A process-based review and conceptual framework
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This review pulls together existing research to show that tides act like a pump for microplastic pollution in estuaries — some tide patterns flush plastic particles out to the ocean, while others trap and recirculate them near coastlines where seafood is harvested. Understanding these patterns matters because it helps scientists predict where microplastics build up in the water we fish from, and could improve how we monitor and eventually reduce human exposure through contaminated seafood.
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.