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Occurrence of tire wear particles and other microplastics within the tributaries of the Charleston Harbor Estuary, South Carolina, USA
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Tire wear particles and other microplastics were detected in tributary streams and sediments throughout the Charleston Harbor Estuary in South Carolina, with tire-derived particles being a substantial fraction of total microplastic contamination. The study highlights that road runoff transporting tire rubber is a significant source of microplastics in coastal South Carolina waterways.
Microplastics (<5 mm) are ubiquitous in the marine environment, occurring in both sediments and surface waters worldwide. However, few studies have documented the presence of microplastics and tire wear particles in coastal rivers. A survey of microplastics and low-density tire wear particles (≥63 μm) in the sediment and surface water of the three major tributaries within the Charleston Harbor estuary was conducted. Intertidal sediment, subtidal sediment, and sea surface microlayer concentrations ranged from 0 to 652 microplastics/m, 3-4,375 microplastics/kg wet weight, and 3-36 microplastics/L, respectively. Blue fibers and tire wear particles were the two most abundant microplastic types observed, constituting 26.2% and 17.1%, respectively, of total microplastics. Tire wear particles were primarily identified by morphology, and ATR-FTIR analysis was conducted for a small subset (n = 5) of larger particles (≥500 μm). The present study provides the first microplastic field assessment of low-density tire wear particles in estuarine tributaries.
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