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

Scherer, Christian; Weber, Annkatrin; Stock, Friederike; Vurusic, Sebastijan; Egerci, Harun; Kochleus, Christian; Arendt, Niklas; Foeldi, Corinna; Dierkes, Georg; Wagner, Martin; Brennholt, Nicole; Reifferscheid, Georg

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139866

Cited by 295 publications

(162 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Similarly, the microplastic fragments with an area of 50000-400000 µ 2 also have a high 68.72-87.50% rate. This size distribution trend was similar to that of China's Yangtze River (Li et al, 2020), Germany's Elbe River (Scherer et al, 2020), where the highest frequency was 300-2000 μm, while large particles (2000-5000 μm) were rarely observed.…”

Section: Shape and Size Of Microplasticssupporting

confidence: 76%

Preliminary results on microplastics in surface water from the downstream of the Day River

Thi

Nhu³

et al. 2021

Vietnam J. Earth Sci.

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Microplastics (MPs), referring to plastic items ranging from 1 to 5000 µm long, are polluting the terrestrial and aquatic environments and are becoming a threat to the health of ecosystems, biota, and humans. Rivers are major carriers of these materials from the terrestrial environment to the oceans. In the present study, the occurrence of MPs in a peri-urban river was investigated. The Day river system is a good example of a peri-urban river strongly influenced by human activities in the whole basin. Water samples were collected from the downstream of the Day river, including Cau Que, Cau Do, and Do Thong, in the rainy and dry seasons using a plankton sampling net for identifying microplastic concentration, size, shape, color, and polymer composition. Microplastic abundance in the surface water ranged from 269,693±60,624 to 863,005±131,925 items/m3. The microplastic concentration in the rainy season was higher than that in the dry season. MPs abundance was increased at a site near urban areas with high human activity. The microplastic shape was collected in different seasons did not change significantly, with microplastic fibers as the major items, accounting for above 92% of the total items. Many fibers microplastics collected in this study were in small sizes of 300-1000 µm and 1000-2000 µm, occupying 78.5-85.7% of the total microplastic items. Purple was the most common color of microplastics. Polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) were major polymer types of the selected items in the surface water samples downstream of the Day River.

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Section: Shape and Size Of Microplasticssupporting

confidence: 76%

Preliminary results on microplastics in surface water from the downstream of the Day River

Thi

Nhu³

et al. 2021

Vietnam J. Earth Sci.

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“…For the ingestion study, individuals were exposed to four concentrations of beads and fragments (20, 200, 2000, and 20,000 particles L −1 ) for 24 h (Table 1), respectively. These concentrations mirror global concentrations of MPs in sediments of rivers (Scherer et al 2020). We expected the shrimps to encounter such MPs since the epibenthic organism feeds on biofilm material on the substrate (Pantaleão et al 2017).…”

Section: Ingestion and Egestion Studiesmentioning

confidence: 83%

“…No fragments were added to the controls (C), but the food source introduced PVC-like fragments. One independent experiment with n = 7-8 replicates for each treatment (Scherer et al 2020). The ingestion for both MP shapes was concentration-dependent (Fig.…”

Section: Ingestion Rates Of Beads and Fragments Are Comparablementioning

confidence: 98%

Particle shape does not affect ingestion and egestion of microplastics by the freshwater shrimp Neocaridina palmata

Klein

Heß

Nungeß

et al. 2021

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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The ingestion of microplastics (MPs) is well documented for various animals and spherical MPs (beads) in many studies. However, the retention time and egestion of MPs have been examined less, especially for irregular MPs (fragments) which are predominantly found in the environment. Furthermore, the accumulation of such particles in the gastrointestinal tract is likely to determine whether adverse effects are induced. To address this, we investigated if the ingestion and egestion of beads are different to those of fragments in the freshwater shrimp Neocaridina palmata. Therefore, organisms were exposed to 20–20,000 particles L−1 of either polyethylene (PE) beads (41 μm and 87 μm) or polyvinyl chloride (PVC) fragments (<63 μm). Moreover, shrimps were exposed to 20,000 particles L−1 of either 41 μm PE and 11 μm polystyrene (PS) beads or the PVC fragments for 24 h, followed by a post-exposure period of 4 h to analyze the excretion of particles. To simulate natural conditions, an additional fragment ingestion study was performed in the presence of food. After each treatment, the shrimps were analyzed for retained or excreted particles. Our results demonstrate that the ingestion of beads and fragments were concentration-dependent. Shrimps egested 59% of beads and 18% of fragments within 4 h. Particle shape did not significantly affect MP ingestion or egestion, but size was a relevant factor. Medium- and small-sized beads were frequently ingested. Furthermore, fragment uptake decreased slightly when co-exposed to food, but was not significantly different to the treatments without food. Finally, the investigations highlight that the assessment of ingestion and egestion rates can help to clarify whether MPs remain in specific organisms and, thereby, become a potential health threat.

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“…As has been established in the previous section, fluvial environments are connected, with many sources and release pathways for microplastic particles, including both point and diffuse releases across different spatial and temporal scales. Numerous studies have now documented microplastic contamination in rivers or streams (Scherer et al 2020).…”

Section: Microplastics In Riversmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hence, it is difficult to determine whether differences between studies are mainly derived from the methodological approach or to a higher extent relate to environmental factors. Despite this, variability between spatial or temporal concentrations within single studies that apply one methodology indicates that environmental factors are important in governing levels of microplastic contamination (Nan et al 2020;Scherer et al 2020). It is notable that despite possible methodological difference, the presence of microplastics has been reported in all lakes studied thus far, even in remote locations (Free et al 2014;Zhang et al 2016a, b).…”

Section: Microplastics In Lakesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microplastics in Terrestrial and Freshwater Environments

Kallenbach

Rødland

Buenaventura

et al. 2021

Environmental Contamination Remediation and Management

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In recent years, the focus of microplastic research has begun to observe a shift from the marine towards terrestrial and freshwater environments. This is in response to a greater awareness of the predominance of land-based sources in marine microplastic contamination. In this regard, terrestrial and freshwater environments are often perceived as conduits for microplastic particles to the oceans, but this overlooks substantial and important complexities associated with these systems, as well as the need to protect these ecosystems in their own right. This chapter focuses on several critical sources and pathways deemed to be highly important for the release of microplastics to the environment. These include road-associated microplastic particles (RAMP) and emissions related to agriculture that are, thus far, under-researched. Transfers and accumulations of particles within terrestrial and freshwater systems are also reviewed, including the state of knowledge on the occurrence of microplastics in different environmental compartments (air, water, sediments, biota). Methodological constraints are addressed, with particular focus on the need for greater harmonisation along all stages of sampling, analysis, and data handling. Finally, the chapter discusses the ultimate fate of particles released to terrestrial and freshwater environments and highlights critical research gaps that should be addressed to evolve our understanding of microplastic contamination in complex and dynamic environmental systems.

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

Cited by 295 publications

References 41 publications

Preliminary results on microplastics in surface water from the downstream of the Day River

Preliminary results on microplastics in surface water from the downstream of the Day River

Particle shape does not affect ingestion and egestion of microplastics by the freshwater shrimp Neocaridina palmata

Microplastics in Terrestrial and Freshwater Environments

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