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Tier 2
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Original research — experimental, observational, or case-control study. Direct primary evidence.
Environmental Sources
Marine & Wildlife
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Characteristics and spatial distribution of microplastics in the lower Ganga River water and sediment
Marine Pollution Bulletin2021
186 citations
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Score: 50
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0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.
Researchers sampled microplastics in water and sediment at five cities along India's Ganga River, finding concentrations of 17–36 items/kg in sediment and 380–684 items/1000 m in water, with white film-shaped polyethylene particles as the dominant type.
Although India is one of the major plastic-waste-generating countries, few studies have been conducted on microplastics (MPs) in freshwater systems that are key contributors to oceans. The current study explores MPs in sediments and water that were collected at five major cities across the Ganga River. MPs number and mass density range in sediment were found to be 17 to 36 items/kg dry weight (d.w.) and 10 to 45 mg/kg d.w. of sediments, respectively, while in the water sample, they were 380 to 684 items/1000 m and 143 to 340 mg/1000 m, respectively. Overall, white color and film-shaped MPs were the major contributors in all samples. MPs of 2.5-5 mm size contributed to a greater number and mass as compared to other fractions. Polyethylene was found to be a widely distributed plastic-type reflecting its high usability.