Microplastics result from fragmentation of plastic debris or are released to the environment as pre-production pellets or components of consumer and industrial products. In the oceans, they contribute to the ‘great garbage patches’. They are ingested by many organisms, from protozoa to baleen whales, and pose a threat to the aquatic fauna. Although as much as 80% of marine debris originates from land, little attention was given to the role of rivers as debris pathways to the sea. Worldwide, not a single great river has yet been studied for the surface microplastics load over its length. We report the abundance and composition of microplastics at the surface of the Rhine, one of the largest European rivers. Measurements were made at 11 locations over a stretch of 820 km. Microplastics were found in all samples, with 892,777 particles km −2 on average. In the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan area, a peak concentration of 3.9 million particles km −2 was measured. Microplastics concentrations were diverse along and across the river, reflecting various sources and sinks such as waste water treatment plants, tributaries and weirs. Measures should be implemented to avoid and reduce the pollution with anthropogenic litter in aquatic ecosystems.

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Anaerobic treatment of originally contaminated soil from a former ammunition plant was carried out in a laboratory slurry reactor. While fermenting glucose to ethanol, acetate, and propionate, the anaerobic bacteria completely reduced the nitro groups of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) and aminodinitrotoluenes, which led to a complete and irreversible binding of the reduced products to the soil. 2,4-Dinitrotoluene and hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine were also reduced in the soil slurry and were no longer detectable after the anaerobic treatment. To mineralize the fermentation products, a subsequent aerobic treatment was necessary to complete the bioremediation process. This bioremediation process was tested in a technical scale at Hessisch Lichtenau-Hirschhagen, Germany. A sludge reactor (Terranox system) was filled with 18 m 3 of contaminated soil (main contaminants were TNT, 2,4dinitrotoluene, hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine) and 10 m 3 of water. The anaerobic stage was carried out by periodical feeding of sucrose. The sludge was subsequently dewatered and treated aerobically. Chemical analysis revealed an overall reduction of more than 99% of the contaminants. Ecotoxicological tests performed with various aquatic systems (luminescent bacteria, daphnids, algae) and terrestrial systems (respiring bacteria, nitrifying bacteria, cress plants, earth worms) showed that residual toxicity could not be detected after the anaerobic/aerobic treatment.

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