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Determination of nano and microplastic particles in hypersaline lakes by multiple methods
Summary
Researchers used multiple analytical methods to detect and characterize nano- and microplastic particles in a large hypersaline lake, finding both types present across different seasons and locations. The unique chemistry of hypersaline environments affects how plastic particles behave and accumulate. This is one of the first studies to examine microplastic contamination in hypersaline lake systems, which are ecologically distinct and understudied.
Microplastics and nanoplastics have a range of impacts on the aquatic environment and present major challenges to their mitigation and management. Their transport and fate depend on their composition, form, and the characteristics of the receiving environment. We explore the spatial and temporal dynamics of plastic particles in the world's second-largest hypersaline lake, combining information from microscopic, thermal gravimetric, and fractional methods. Studies on microplastic and nanoplastic pollution in these important environments are scarce, and there is limited understanding of their dynamics and fate. Our results for Urmia Lake (Iran) in 2016 and 2019 show a discrepancy in the composition and quantity of microplastics measured in river tributaries to the lake and the lake itself, suggesting an active microplastic sink. Potential sink mechanisms in hypersaline lakes are explored. The present study indicates that microplastics have different transport mechanisms and fate in these extreme environments, compared to lake and ocean environments.