Papers

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Article Tier 2

Green barriers to plastic transport in rivers: an indoor study

Indoor flume experiments demonstrated that riparian vegetation and green infrastructure along riverbanks can trap floating and suspended plastic debris, suggesting that natural and planted green barriers could help reduce plastic transport to the ocean.

2024
Article Tier 2

Riparian vegetation as a natural barrier: experimental analysis of plastic particle retention in a vegetated reach

Researchers ran laboratory experiments showing that riverside plants act as natural traps for microplastics, with heavier plastic particles (1.4 g/cm³) being retained at rates up to 93% while lighter, irregularly shaped pieces were captured at twice the rate of disk-shaped ones. Lower water turbulence improved trapping, suggesting that preserving riparian vegetation could help prevent microplastics from reaching the ocean.

2025 Environmental Advances
Article Tier 2

Experimental Investigation of the Effects of Vegetation on the Physical Transport and Retention Pattern of Microplastics

Researchers conducted experimental flume studies to investigate how aquatic and riparian vegetation affects the physical transport and retention of microplastics in riverine environments. They found that vegetation significantly increases microplastic retention and alters spatial distribution patterns, suggesting that vegetated riparian zones act as important traps that influence microplastic flux to the ocean.

2022 World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2022 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Aquatic plants entrap different size of plastics in indoor flume experiments

Researchers found that aquatic plants effectively entrap plastics in riverine environments, with plant species and plastic particle size influencing retention rates, suggesting vegetation plays an important role in limiting downstream plastic transport.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 20 citations
Article Tier 2

The effect of groyne field on trapping macroplastic. Preliminary results from laboratory experiments

Researchers conducted laboratory channel experiments showing that groyne fields paired with vegetation deflect floating macroplastic litter and increase its retention time, suggesting that low-flow zones with vegetation are optimal sites for plastic trapping infrastructure in rivers.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 13 citations
Article Tier 2

Capture of plastic litter by sluice gate and trash racks

Researchers conducted hydraulic flume experiments to assess how well sluice gates and trash racks capture plastic litter of varying shapes and sizes, finding that each structure has a threshold particle size above which capture efficiency becomes reliable. The results suggest these water management devices can be optimised for plastic removal, offering a practical intervention point for reducing plastic transport through river systems.

2024 Archives of Environmental Protection
Article Tier 2

Transport dynamics of microplastics within aquatic vegetation featuring realistic plant morphology

Researchers investigated how aquatic vegetation with realistic plant structures affects the transport and trapping of microplastics in river environments. They found that floating plant canopies significantly altered water flow and increased microplastic retention, with smaller nanoscale particles being trapped more effectively than larger ones. The study suggests that aquatic vegetation may act as a natural filter, accumulating microplastics and potentially preventing their transport downstream to oceans.

2025 Water Research 17 citations
Article Tier 2

Transport of Floating Plastics through the Fluvial Vector: The Impact of Riparian Zones

Researchers tracked how riparian vegetation affects the transport of floating plastics through river systems, using field observations and modeling to show that dense vegetation traps plastic debris and reduces downstream transport. The findings suggest riparian buffer strips could serve as a natural management tool for reducing riverine plastic export to the ocean.

2024 Water 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Experimental study of interception effect by submerged dam on microplastics

Researchers used a laboratory flow flume to study how a submerged dam intercepts PVC and polystyrene microplastics, finding that the dam captured most particles but that un-intercepted particles changed their transport behavior downstream. The study quantified interception rates and identified factors influencing dam performance as a passive microplastic barrier in river management.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 7 citations
Article Tier 2

The role of biofilm and hydrodynamics on the fate of microplastic particles in rivers: an experimental study

Researchers conducted experimental flume studies to investigate how biofilm formation and hydrodynamic conditions jointly govern microplastic particle fate in rivers, examining why some urbanized and industrialized river reaches show no significant upstream-to-downstream increase in microplastic concentration despite theoretical inputs.

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

Discontinuity in fluvial plastic transport increased by floating vegetation

This study found that floating vegetation in rivers can significantly interrupt the continuous downstream transport of plastic debris by trapping it in vegetated areas. This natural retention mechanism means that plastic transport in rivers is more complex and discontinuous than previously assumed, affecting estimates of how much plastic reaches the ocean.

2023
Article Tier 2

Submergence ratio and spacing between in-stream obstructions determine capture and accumulation of drifting particles in rivers

Flume experiments examined how the spacing and height ratio of in-stream obstructions (like logs or boulders) affect microplastic capture and retention in rivers. The results could inform nature-based stream management strategies designed to trap microplastics before they reach the ocean.

2025 Advances in Water Resources 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Factors influencing the vertical distribution and transport of plastics in riverine environments: Theoretical background and implications for improved field study design.

This review examines the physical and hydrodynamic factors governing the vertical distribution and transport of plastics in riverine environments, synthesizing theoretical background on settling velocity, turbulence, and buoyancy to provide recommendations for improved field study design.

2025 Environmental pollution (Barking, Essex : 1987)
Article Tier 2

Modelling forces on buoyant macro plastics and their cross-sectional distribution in rivers: Simplified modelling of buoyant macro plastics according to cornerstones in behavior and particle response times in a range of riverine environments to set-up efficient monitoring campaigns and help select locations for efficient plastic removal.

Researchers modeled the forces acting on buoyant plastic debris in rivers to better predict how macroplastics are distributed across river cross-sections, which is important for designing efficient plastic monitoring and collection systems. Understanding plastic transport in rivers is key to tracking how land-based plastics reach the ocean.

2019 Research Repository (Delft University of Technology)
Article Tier 2

Trapping Efficiency of Non-Buoyant Microplastics by River Groynes

Flume experiments tested ten groyne configurations (river bank structures used for erosion control) for their ability to trap dense, non-floating microplastics, finding that all configurations retained at least 6% of particles and upstream-inclined groynes retained up to 20.7%. Rivers are major transport routes for microplastics moving from land to sea, and this study shows that existing river engineering structures can serve a secondary function as passive microplastic traps. Optimizing groyne design could offer a low-cost, passive strategy for intercepting microplastics before they reach the ocean.

2026 University of Ottawa - Library
Article Tier 2

Field experiment confirms high macroplastic trapping efficiency of wood jams in a mountain river channel

Researchers tracked 64 plastic bottles over two months in a mountain river and found that natural wood log jams trapped nearly 72% of them, with regulated (straightened) river sections trapping plastic three times more efficiently per kilometer than natural, winding reaches. The findings suggest that managing wood jams could be a practical, low-cost strategy for capturing plastic waste before it reaches the ocean.

2025 Scientific Reports 6 citations
Article Tier 2

The role of biofilm and hydrodynamics on the fate of microplastic particles in rivers: an experimental study

Researchers conducted flume and field experiments to examine how biofilm formation and hydrodynamic conditions govern the fate of microplastic particles in rivers, investigating why some MP-polluted rivers crossing industrialized areas show no significant upstream-to-downstream concentration differences. The study identified biofilm-mediated density changes and turbulence as key factors controlling whether low-density MPs remain suspended or settle into sediments.

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

The role of water management and its effect on microplastic transport and fate

Researchers examined how water management practices affect the transport and fate of microplastics in river networks, which serve as both conduits and sinks for plastic pollution. The study found that flow regulation and water management interventions significantly influence how far microplastics travel and where they accumulate.

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

Retention of microplastics by interspersed lagoons in both natural and constructed wetlands

Researchers used laboratory wetland models to test how well constructed wetlands with interspersed lagoons and aquatic vegetation can capture microplastic particles from water. Combining vegetated patches with a lagoon achieved microplastic retention rates of up to 99%, suggesting that nature-based wetland designs could be an effective low-cost strategy for filtering microplastics out of wastewater and rivers before they reach the ocean.

2023 Journal of Water Process Engineering 24 citations
Article Tier 2

The influence of flow on the amount, retention and loss of plastic pollution in an urban river

Researchers sampled both microplastics and macroplastics at four sites along an urban river in Ontario, Canada during normal flow and storm conditions. The study found that storm events significantly influence plastic transport dynamics, with flow conditions affecting how much plastic pollution is retained in or flushed through urban river systems toward downstream water bodies.

2025 Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A Mathematical Physical and Engineering Sciences 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Performance assessment of bubbles barriers for microplastic remediation

Researchers experimentally evaluated the performance of bubble barrier devices for collecting microplastics in natural and artificial streams, testing different configurations of bubble generators and alignment angles to determine which arrangements most effectively directed both floating and non-floating particles toward collection systems.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 16 citations
Article Tier 2

Colloidal transport and deposition through dense vegetation

This study investigated how dense submerged aquatic vegetation affects the movement and removal of fine particles in flowing water, finding that vegetation can significantly trap particles. This has implications for understanding how natural vegetation can buffer the spread of microplastics and other particulate pollutants in waterways.

2021 Chemosphere 6 citations
Article Tier 2

The role of floodplain vegetation in filtering microplastics during a major Rhine flood event

Researchers investigated microplastic deposition on Rhine floodplain vegetation during a major flood event, finding that floodplain vegetation significantly increases hydraulic roughness and reduces flow velocities, enhancing MP capture and acting as an important filter for microplastics remobilized from the riverbed during high-discharge events.

2025
Article Tier 2

River plastic during floods: Amplified mobilization, limited river-scale dispersion

Researchers investigated plastic mobilization, transport, and retention dynamics in rivers during flood conditions, finding that high-discharge flood events amplify plastic mobilization from riverbanks and floodplains but that river-scale dispersal of that plastic remains surprisingly limited. They found that most flood-mobilized plastic is re-deposited within the river catchment rather than exported to the ocean, reinforcing the concept that rivers act as both conduits and long-term reservoirs of plastic pollution.

2022 1 citations