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A catchment‐scale perspective of plastic pollution
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This review framed plastic pollution from a catchment-scale perspective, synthesizing evidence on plastic sources, transport dynamics, and effects across terrestrial, freshwater, and marine environments within river drainage basins. The authors find that rivers are hotspots for plastic pollution and pivotal conduits to the ocean, and call for integrated catchment-level management rather than environment-by-environment approaches.
Plastic pollution is distributed across the globe, but compared with marine environments, there is only rudimentary understanding of the distribution and effects of plastics in other ecosystems. Here, we review the transport and effects of plastics across terrestrial, freshwater and marine environments. We focus on hydrological catchments as well-defined landscape units that provide an integrating scale at which plastic pollution can be investigated and managed. Diverse processes are responsible for the observed ubiquity of plastic pollution, but sources, fluxes and sinks in river catchments are poorly quantified. Early indications are that rivers are hotspots of plastic pollution, supporting some of the highest recorded concentrations. River systems are also likely pivotal conduits for plastic transport among the terrestrial, floodplain, riparian, benthic and transitional ecosystems with which they connect. Although ecological effects of micro- and nanoplastics might arise through a variety of physical and chemical mechanisms, consensus and understanding of their nature, severity and scale are restricted. Furthermore, while individual-level effects are often graphically represented in public media, knowledge of the extent and severity of the impacts of plastic at population, community and ecosystem levels is limited. Given the potential social, ecological and economic consequences, we call for more comprehensive investigations of plastic pollution in ecosystems to guide effective management action and risk assessment. This is reliant on (a) expanding research to quantify sources, sinks, fluxes and fates of plastics in catchments and transitional waters both independently as a major transport routes to marine ecosystems, (b) improving environmentally relevant dose-response relationships for different organisms and effect pathways, (c) scaling up from studies on individual organisms to populations and ecosystems, where individual effects are shown to cause harm and; (d) improving biomonitoring through developing ecologically relevant metrics based on contemporary plastic research.
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This review examines how river systems receive and transport plastic debris -- including both macroplastics and microplastics -- from land sources to the ocean, synthesizing evidence on pollution sources, fate, and management strategies across pristine and urban rivers.
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This review synthesizes current knowledge on plastic debris in rivers, covering sources, transport mechanisms, ecological impacts, and the role of rivers in delivering plastic to the oceans. The authors highlight key knowledge gaps and emphasize that riverine ecosystems are directly harmed by plastic pollution, not merely transit corridors.
River plastic transport and storage budget.
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This global synthesis estimated the plastic transport and storage budget for rivers by measuring plastic in the water surface, water column, riverbanks, and floodplains — finding that far more plastic is stored within rivers than is transported to the ocean. The study challenges the assumption that rivers are primarily conduits and highlights them as major long-term plastic reservoirs.
Focus on plastics from land to aquatic ecosystems
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This focus issue editorial synthesizes new research on sources, transport dynamics, fate, and impacts of plastic pollution through aquatic environments, highlighting urban areas, transportation infrastructure, and wastewater plants as consistently identified microplastic sources. Key findings show that most plastics accumulate in river systems or coastal areas rather than reaching the open sea, while transport is driven by human factors and hydrodynamic events rather than environmental conditions alone.
Rivers Are a Highway for Microplastics into the Ocean
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This review explains how rivers transport microplastics from inland sources to the ocean, making them a critical conduit for terrestrial plastic pollution entering marine environments. The authors discuss factors affecting plastic loads in rivers and argue that upstream interventions are essential to reducing ocean plastic accumulation.
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.