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Urban natural wetland as a sink for microplastics: A case from Lalu Wetland in Tibet, China
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Microplastics were detected in water and sediment from Lalu Wetland in Tibet, a high-altitude urban natural wetland, establishing it as a sink for airborne and waterborne plastic particles. The study documents plastic contamination even in remote Tibetan ecosystems and highlights the role of wetlands in trapping microplastics from surrounding catchments.
Microplastics have been reported in a wide range of aquatic habitats. The wetlands are considered to be important roles in microplastic migration in water bodies. Nevertheless, knowledge about the occurrence and fate of microplastics in urban natural wetland is still limited for us to better understand how they become a sink of microplastics. In this study, the distribution and characteristics of microplastics in surface water, surface sediments, and sediment cores of the Lalu Wetland watershed, China's highest urban wetland, were investigated in August 2020 and January 2021. The abundances of microplastics in the surface water were 0.06-3.05 MPs/L. Microplastic abundance in the surface sediment and sediment core was 0.01-1.10 MPs/g and 0-16.23 MPs/g, respectively. The abundance of microplastics in the water was significantly lower in the wetland than that in the channel in the watershed. Comparing the wetland inlet and outlet water, the microplastic interception rates were 53% in January and 95% in August. The characteristics and seasonal variation of microplastics in the Lalu Wetland implied that urban natural wetlands were good at intercepting microplastics, and vegetation growth might play an important role on the interception of microplastics by the wetland. The increasing of microplastics from bottom to top in the sediment cores of Lalu Wetland also indicated that the ecological risks of microplastics accumulation in sediments of urban natural wetland required further attention.
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