Papers

61,005 results
|
Article Tier 2

Microplastic Pollution in Benthic Midstream Sediments of the Rhine River

Microplastic concentrations, compositions, and transport dynamics were characterized in Rhine River sediments, showing that fine sediments act as significant temporary sinks and that particle retention varies by sediment compartment.

2019 Environmental Science & Technology 231 citations
Article Tier 2

Occurrence and Spatial Distribution of Microplastics in River Shore Sediments of the Rhine-Main Area in Germany

Researchers surveyed river shore sediments and documented the occurrence and spatial distribution of microplastics, finding that sediment accumulation zones along riverbanks are hotspots for microplastic deposition.

2015 Environmental Science & Technology 1148 citations
Article Tier 2

Cross-Sectional Distribution of Microplastics in the Rhine River, Germany—A Mass-Based Approach

A mass balance study of microplastics across the Rhine River used high-sample-number monitoring at multiple depths and cross-sections, finding that MP concentrations and polymer composition varied substantially across the river's cross-section—revealing underestimation of total MP flux in studies based on surface sampling alone.

2025 Microplastics 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics profile along the Rhine River

Researchers measured microplastic concentrations along the Rhine River from source to sea, finding a downstream increase in abundance that reflected cumulative inputs from cities and tributaries, with the Rhine acting as a major conduit delivering plastics to the North Sea.

2015 Scientific Reports 967 citations
Article Tier 2

Comparative assessment of microplastics in water and sediment of a large European river

Researchers quantified microplastics in both water and sediment of the German river Elbe using three complementary methods (visual inspection, FTIR spectroscopy, and pyrolysis-GC/MS), finding that different methods detected different particle fractions and that sediment concentrations were far higher than water.

2020 The Science of The Total Environment 402 citations
Article Tier 2

Macroplastic concentrations in the water column of the river Rhine increase with higher discharge

Researchers used trawl nets at multiple depths in the Rhine River to track macroplastic pollution in the water column, finding that plastic concentrations rise sharply during high river discharge (flooding). During low-flow conditions, plastics accumulated near the riverbed, revealing that hydrology plays a key role in where and how much plastic moves through river systems.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Occurrence, Temporal Variability, and Loads of Poly(vinyl chloride) in the Rhine and Moselle

Researchers monitored the temporal variability and spatial distribution of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) microplastics in the Rhine and Moselle rivers in Germany using continuous flow centrifugation to collect suspended matter in the 1 mm-1 micrometer particle size range. They found PVC concentrations up to 3.3 micrograms per liter with a strong dependence on river discharge, providing important baseline data on PVC loads in major European river systems.

2025 Environmental Science & Technology
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in floodplain soils along the rhine river in germany

Researchers characterized microplastic pollution in floodplain soils along the Rhine River in Germany, focusing on this understudied habitat at the interface of terrestrial and freshwater systems to understand how rivers act as vectors for microplastic transport and deposition.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Microplastic analysis in sediments of the Elbe River by electrostatic separation and differential scanning calorimetry

Researchers surveyed 43 sediment samples from the Elbe River using electrostatic separation and differential scanning calorimetry, finding microplastics — predominantly polyethylene fibers — at concentrations up to 44.6 mg/kg in harbor basins, with the highest pollution in the middle Elbe between two major tributaries.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 18 citations
Article Tier 2

Occurrence,Temporal Variability, and Loads of Poly(vinylchloride) in the Rhine and Moselle

Researchers monitored the temporal variability and spatial distribution of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) microplastics in the Rhine and Moselle rivers in Germany using continuous flow centrifugation to collect suspended matter in the 1 mm-1 micrometer particle size range. They found PVC concentrations up to 3.3 micrograms per liter with a strong dependence on river discharge, providing important baseline data on PVC loads in major European river systems.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Source, Identification, Distribution, and Abundance of Microplastics in Rivers and Their Ecological Impacts: a Review

This review synthesizes global data on microplastic sources, identification methods, distribution in rivers, and ecological impacts, covering studies from the past two decades. It finds MPs widespread in riverine systems (up to 120 MPs/L in water, 13,607 MPs/kg in sediment), with FTIR and Raman spectroscopy as dominant identification tools and PE/PP fibers and fragments as the most common polymer types.

2025 Environment & Ecosystem science
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in the Hamburg port area—an analysis of sediment depth profiles along the upper Elbe river, Germany

Researchers collected sediment depth profiles at seven sites in and around the Hamburg port area along the upper Elbe River, Germany, to analyze microplastic concentrations at different burial depths. Results characterize how the unique morphology and high anthropogenic pressure of port environments influence MP accumulation patterns and sediment depth distribution along one of Europe's major river systems.

2025 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in sediments from urban and suburban rivers: Influence of sediment properties

Researchers measured microplastic concentrations in sediments from 12 sites across three Vietnamese rivers in the Red River Delta during dry and rainy seasons, finding concentrations ranging from 1,600 to 94,300 items per kg dry weight. Fiber-dominated microplastic contamination was strongly influenced by sediment properties including grain size and organic carbon content.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 26 citations
Article Tier 2

Sinks and sources: Assessing microplastic abundance in river sediment and deposit feeders in an Austral temperate urban river system

Researchers investigated microplastic abundance in river sediments and depositional zones, finding that sediment acts as both a sink and a temporary source, with stored microplastics re-mobilized during high-flow events.

2017 The Science of The Total Environment 477 citations
Article Tier 2

Rapid Assessment of Floating Macroplastic Transport in the Rhine

Researchers developed a rapid assessment methodology to quantify floating macroplastic transport in the Rhine River using visual counting from bridges combined with flow velocity data, demonstrating the feasibility of low-cost monitoring approaches for riverine plastic flux. The study contributes to better understanding of how rivers function as pathways delivering plastic pollution to the ocean.

2020 Frontiers in Marine Science 109 citations
Article Tier 2

Riverine microplastic contamination in southwest Germany: A large-scale survey

A large-scale survey of microplastic contamination across multiple rivers in southwest Germany found that contamination increased from headwaters to lowland sections and was elevated downstream of urban areas and wastewater treatment plant discharges. Fibers dominated in all rivers, and the study highlighted rivers as both pathways and temporary sinks for microplastics.

2022 Frontiers in Earth Science 40 citations
Article Tier 2

A systems approach to understand microplastic occurrence and variability in Dutch riverine surface waters

Microplastic concentrations in two Dutch rivers ranged from 67 to 11,532 particles per cubic meter, varying by two orders of magnitude across space and one order over time, with polyethylene and polypropylene the most common polymers among 26 types identified. Rigorous quality assurance procedures including partial filter analysis guidelines are proposed to improve measurement reliability.

2020 Water Research 209 citations
Article Tier 2

One Year Observation of Microplastic Concentrations in the River Rhine

Researchers conducted a year-long observation of microplastic concentrations in the River Rhine, generating a large dataset analyzed under rigorous statistical methods. The study provides mass concentration data that establishes environmentally relevant baseline levels, which are essential for realistic risk assessment of microplastic exposure in freshwater systems.

2026 ACS ES&T Water
Article Tier 2

Riverbed depth-specific microplastics distribution and potential use as process marker

Researchers examined the depth-specific distribution of microplastics in riverbed sediments, finding that particle concentration and type varied significantly with sediment depth. The findings suggest that riverbeds act as significant microplastic sinks, with deeper layers representing older accumulation zones.

2024 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Occurrence and characteristics of microplastics in water and sediment samples along the red river to the gulf of tonkin, vietnam

Researchers surveyed microplastics in water and sediment along Vietnam's Red River from inland areas to the Gulf of Tonkin, documenting the types, sizes, and polymer compositions present. The findings show how a major river system acts as a pathway delivering plastic pollution from a densely populated landscape into coastal marine waters.

2026 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Microplastic Contamination of Fine-Grained Sediments and Its Environmental Driving Factors along a Lowland River: Three-Year Monitoring of the Tisza River and Central Europe

Researchers analyzed microplastic contamination in fine-grained river sediments over three years (2020-2022) along a large river system, examining environmental driving factors including hydrology, land use, and sediment transport dynamics. The study found that hydrological and geomorphological processes are key determinants of where microplastics accumulate and are remobilized.

2024 Hydrology 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Direkte Mikro- und Makroplastiktransportmessungen an großen und mittleren Flüssen sowie im Ablauf von Kläranlagen

This German-language study presents direct measurements of micro- and macroplastic transport in large and medium-sized rivers as well as wastewater treatment plant effluents. It addresses a research gap in freshwater plastic transport quantification, providing empirical data on how rivers carry plastics toward marine environments.

2020 Österreichische Wasser- und Abfallwirtschaft 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Modelling the Fate of Microplastics in river bed sediments.

Researchers modeled microplastic transport, deposition, and burial in river bed sediments under varying hydrological conditions. River bed sediments were found to act as long-term reservoirs for microplastics, with periodic high-flow events temporarily resuspending and redistributing particles.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Systematic Review Tier 1

Towards understanding uncertainties in the measurement of microplastic concentrations in river systems

This research investigates how different laboratory methods affect microplastic measurements in rivers, finding that higher-resolution instruments detect far more particles. The study compared contamination in the Yangtze and Rhine river systems, highlighting that the true extent of microplastic pollution in our waterways may be underestimated depending on the analysis methods used.

2026