Microplastic pollution in the Yangtze River Basin: Heterogeneity of abundances and characteristics in different environments

Zhang, Zeqian; Deng, Chenning; Li, Dong; Liu, Lusan; Li, Haisheng; Wu, Jian; Ye, Chenlei

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2021.117580

Cited by 69 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 75 publications

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“…Tributaries have significant input into the pollution in the main river. Understanding the potential sources of anthropogenic litter in the tributaries helps in identifying sources of pollution in the main river (Zhang et al, 2021 ). In rivers, the fate and transport of microplastics are governed by the presence of artificial structures such as dams, groynes, guiding walls, and reservoirs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative Assessment of Microplastics in Surface Waters and Sediments of the Vaal River, South Africa: Abundance, Composition, and Sources

Ramaremisa

Ndlovu

Saad

2022

Enviro Toxic and Chemistry

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We extracted microplastics from surface water and sediment samples from the Vaal River in Johannesburg, South Africa. Average abundances of 0.61 ± 0.57 particles/m 3 and 4.6 × 10 2 ± 2.8 × 10 2 particles/kg dry weight were recorded for water and sediment samples, respectively. In both sediment and water samples, more than 80% of microplastics were fragments and fibers of smaller than 2 mm. High-density polyethylene, low-density polyethylene, and polypropylene were the dominant polymers identified in both sample types. In addition, polyethylene co-vinyl acetate, polyester, polyurethane, and polyethylene/ hexene-1-copolymer were also detected in sediment samples. Colored microplastics were the most commonly observed in both sample types; pigment yellow 83 was detected in surface water, and carbon black was detected in both sediment and water samples during Raman analysis. Taking into consideration the physical and chemical characteristics of the detected microplastics, their potential sources include inflow from tributaries, surface run-off from urban city centers, recreational activities, and wastewater effluent from industries and households.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative Assessment of Microplastics in Surface Waters and Sediments of the Vaal River, South Africa: Abundance, Composition, and Sources

Ramaremisa

Ndlovu

Saad

2022

Enviro Toxic and Chemistry

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“…It is not surprising the prevalence of PET, PE, and PP microplastics in bivalves since these traditional polymers are the most produced and used in the last decades [33][34][35]. The prevalence of these three polymers in bivalves is relatively consistent with the polymer types typically detected in the water and sediment [36][37][38][39]. Worthing notice is that 12 out of 33 studies reported a certain percentage of rayon, a modified natural polymer.…”

Section: Literature Retrieval and Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 81%

Towards Risk Assessments of Microplastics in Bivalve Mollusks Globally

Ding

Sun

et al. 2022

JMSE

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The ubiquitous presence of microplastics in bivalve mollusks and related risks have raised particular concerns. In this study, the available data on the abundance and polymer type of microplastics in bivalves from twenty-two countries were extracted to comprehensively understand the risks of microplastics in bivalves. Following the data from 52 peer-reviewed papers, the abundance, chemical composition, and human exposure risks of microplastics of bivalves among countries were initially assessed. Abundance risk results indicated that bivalves from 22 countries presented a low pollution load index, showing a lower risk level (level I). The polymer risk index (H) of bivalves from Portugal (Hcountry = 1335, level IV) and India (Hcountry = 1187, level IV) were higher than the other countries due to the occurrence of hazardous microplastics, such as polyvinyl chloride. For the human exposure risks, the global mean value of microplastic exposure to humans via mollusk consumption is estimated to be 751 microplastics/capita/year, with the maximum intake by the Chinese. This study suggests that abundance risk may be a fundamental indicator for assessing the potential hazard to humans until the chemical composition risks are confirmed. This study is the first attempt to assess the potential risks of microplastics in bivalves using three evaluation models based on microplastic abundances and polymer types, which will contribute to establishing future human health risk assessment frameworks. These findings will also assist efforts in policy-making to minimize microplastic risks in seafood.

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“…Currently, the studies on freshwater MPs in China had carried out for a long time (Zhao et al, 2022), including lakes, freshwater rivers, and reservoirs. A recent study analyzed the MPs in freshwater in the yangtze river Basin (Zhang et al, 2021), and another study investigated the distribution and characteristics of MPs in the backwater area of xiangxi river, a typical tributary of the Three Gorges reservoir (Zhang et al, 2017). More studies had even conducted MPs surveys in deep inland areas, including ulansuhai in Inner Mongolia (Wang et al, 2019) and the tibetan plateau river (Feng et al, 2020), indicating the existence of MPs in inland rivers.…”

Section: Current Situation Of Global Mps In Freshwatermentioning

confidence: 99%

Data Mining Revealing Recent Microplastics Pollution of Freshwater in China

Xie¹,

Pei²

2022

American Journal of Environmental Sciences

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This review mainly discusses the characteristics and correlation of microplastics (MPs) in freshwater systems under various geographical environments in China. The distribution and source of MPs are analyzed and their spatial analyses are performed using the GIS method. Besides, the current and future situation of microplastic pollution in China is further evaluated through data mining. Results indicate that recent studies mainly focused on the middle and lower reaches of the yangtze river and its tributaries, as well as lakes and reservoirs along the yangtze river. Notably, large-scale reservoirs, rivers, and lakes located in densely populated areas showed higher abundances of MPs. Taken together, the current MP's pollution of freshwater in China was not optimistic. Novel technologies should be developed to remove existing microplastics and new laws and regulations should be promulgated to reduce plastic waste pollution.

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Microplastic pollution in the Yangtze River Basin: Heterogeneity of abundances and characteristics in different environments

Cited by 69 publications

References 75 publications

Comparative Assessment of Microplastics in Surface Waters and Sediments of the Vaal River, South Africa: Abundance, Composition, and Sources

Comparative Assessment of Microplastics in Surface Waters and Sediments of the Vaal River, South Africa: Abundance, Composition, and Sources

Towards Risk Assessments of Microplastics in Bivalve Mollusks Globally

Data Mining Revealing Recent Microplastics Pollution of Freshwater in China

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