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Microplastics in the surface water of small-scale estuaries in Shanghai

Marine Pollution Bulletin 2019 131 citations ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count.
Jiaxu Zhang, Chenglong Zhang, Chenglong Zhang, Yixiang Deng, Ruixue Wang, En Ma, Jingwei Wang, Jianfeng Bai, Jin Wu, Yongjie Zhou

Summary

Researchers assessed microplastic pollution in seven small-scale estuaries in Shanghai for the first time, finding mean concentrations of 27.84 particles/L with polypropylene and polyethylene as the dominant polymers and granules as the most abundant particle type.

Polymers

This study involved an assessment of the levels of microplastic pollution in seven small-scale estuaries in Shanghai for the first time. The abundance of microplastics ranged from 13.53 ± 4.6 to 44.93 ± 9.41 particles L, with a mean abundance of 27.84 ± 11.81 particles L. Microplastics collected from samples were classified into four types (fiber, film, granule, and fragment), and granules were the most abundant type. Up to 99.5% of microplastics were <2 mm in diameter. The microplastics had a variety of colors, with black being the dominant color. Polypropylene (37.5%) and polyethylene (50%) were the main types of microplastic component validated. Our study showed severe microplastic pollution in small-scale estuaries, and the associated rivers need urgent attention for microplastic pollution prevention.

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