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Occurrence and distribution of microplastics in an urban river: A case study in the Pearl River along Guangzhou City, China
The Science of The Total Environment2018
545 citations
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Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count.
Score: 50
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0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.
Linzi Zuo,
Jinping Peng,
Jinping Peng,
Linzi Zuo,
Linzi Zuo,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Lang Lin,
Hengxiang Li
Lang Lin,
Lang Lin,
Liqi Cai,
Liqi Cai,
Liqi Cai,
Jinping Peng,
Jinping Peng,
Jinping Peng,
Linzi Zuo,
Linzi Zuo,
Linzi Zuo,
Lang Lin,
Lang Lin,
Liqi Cai,
Liqi Cai,
Liqi Cai,
Lincoln Fok,
Lincoln Fok,
Lincoln Fok,
Lincoln Fok,
Lincoln Fok,
Lincoln Fok,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Jinping Peng,
Jinping Peng,
Lang Lin,
Jinping Peng,
Jinping Peng,
Jinping Peng,
Lincoln Fok,
Jinping Peng,
Jinping Peng,
Jinping Peng,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Jinping Peng,
Linzi Zuo,
Lincoln Fok,
Lang Lin,
Lincoln Fok,
Hengxiang Li
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Hengxiang Li
Lang Lin,
Lincoln Fok,
Lincoln Fok,
Linzi Zuo,
Lang Lin,
Hengxiang Li
Hengxiang Li
Lincoln Fok,
Lang Lin,
Lang Lin,
Lincoln Fok,
Liqi Cai,
Hengxiang Li
Lang Lin,
Hengxiang Li
Lang Lin,
Hengxiang Li
Hengxiang Li
Lang Lin,
Hengxiang Li
Hengxiang Li
Lang Lin,
Lang Lin,
Lang Lin,
Hengxiang Li
Hengxiang Li
Hengxiang Li
Hengxiang Li
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Jinping Peng,
Jinping Peng,
Jinping Peng,
Jinping Peng,
Jinping Peng,
Jinping Peng,
Jinping Peng,
Jinping Peng,
Lincoln Fok,
Lincoln Fok,
Lincoln Fok,
Lincoln Fok,
Lincoln Fok,
Lincoln Fok,
Lincoln Fok,
Liqi Cai,
Liqi Cai,
Liqi Cai,
Lang Lin,
Lang Lin,
Lang Lin,
Lang Lin,
Lang Lin,
Lang Lin,
Jinping Peng,
Jinping Peng,
Jinping Peng,
Jinping Peng,
Jinping Peng,
Jinping Peng,
Jinping Peng,
Jinping Peng,
Liqi Cai,
Liqi Cai,
Lang Lin,
Lang Lin,
Lang Lin,
Lang Lin,
Lang Lin,
Hengxiang Li
Lang Lin,
Lang Lin,
Hengxiang Li
Hengxiang Li
Lang Lin,
Lang Lin,
Lang Lin,
Lang Lin,
Jinping Peng,
Lang Lin,
Jinping Peng,
Jinping Peng,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Jinping Peng,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Jinping Peng,
Liqi Cai,
Hengxiang Li
Lincoln Fok,
Lang Lin,
Lang Lin,
Jinping Peng,
Lang Lin,
Jinping Peng,
Liqi Cai,
Lang Lin,
Jinping Peng,
Lang Lin,
Lang Lin,
Lang Lin,
Lang Lin,
Hengxiang Li
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Hengxiang Li
Lang Lin,
Lang Lin,
Hengxiang Li
Jinping Peng,
Lang Lin,
Jinping Peng,
Lang Lin,
Jinping Peng,
Hengxiang Li
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Jinping Peng,
Lang Lin,
Lang Lin,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Lang Lin,
Hengxiang Li
Lincoln Fok,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Lang Lin,
Lincoln Fok,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Jinping Peng,
Lang Lin,
Yan Yan,
Hengxiang Li
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Jinping Peng,
Jinping Peng,
Hengxiang Li
Hengxiang Li
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Hengxiang Li
Hengxiang Li
Jinping Peng,
Lang Lin,
Lang Lin,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Jinping Peng,
Jinping Peng,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Jinping Peng,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Jinping Peng,
Jinping Peng,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Jinping Peng,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Hengxiang Li
Jinping Peng,
Liqi Cai,
Liqi Cai,
Yan Yan,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Jinping Peng,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Jinping Peng,
Lincoln Fok,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Jinping Peng,
Jinping Peng,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Jinping Peng,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Jinping Peng,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Linzi Zuo,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Linzi Zuo,
Linzi Zuo,
Jinping Peng,
Jinping Peng,
Linzi Zuo,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Lang Lin,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Lang Lin,
Jinping Peng,
Hengxiang Li
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Xiang‐Rong Xu,
Hengxiang Li
Summary
Microplastics were measured in surface water and sediments at 14 sites along the urban Pearl River in Guangzhou, finding 379–7,924 items/m³ in water and 80–9,597 items/kg in sediment with polyethylene and polypropylene as dominant types, and a significant relationship between population density and microplastic abundance. The study documents extremely high microplastic contamination in an urban Chinese river and quantifies the influence of urbanization on microplastic loading.
Microplastics, as emerging contaminants in the global environment, have become a cause for concern for both academics and the public. The present understanding of microplastic pollution is primarily focused on marine environments, and less attention has been given to freshwater environments, in particular, to urban rivers. In this study, microplastics were sampled from surface water and sediments in 14 sites located in the lower course of the Pearl River. These sampling sites are located along Guangzhou of South China, with built-up areas being the dominant land use. The abundances of microplastics in surface water and sediments ranged from 379 to 7924 items·m and 80 to 9597 items·kg, respectively. Polyethylene and polypropylene were the common types of microplastics, together accounting for 64.3% and 73.8% of surface water and sediment samples, respectively. Fibers were the dominant microplastic shapes in both water and sediment samples. The abundances of microplastics varied in surface water and sediments with each site, which might be affected by multiple factors. Our results indicated that wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) could reduce microplastics from municipal sewage which was finally discharged into the Pearl River along Guangzhou.