Microplastic reorganization in urban river before and after rainfall

Wei, Yiting; Dou, Peng; Xu, Dongyu; Zhang, Yanliang; Gao, Bo

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2022.120326

Cited by 32 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…In the wet season and typhoon period, the sluice gate downstream was not opened for two days before sampling. Consequently, MPs tend to accumulate in front of the sluice gate, as observed in previous studies where dams [37], weirs [38], and closed sluice gates [39] act as potential sinks for river MPs, extending their residence time at those locations. As a result, the abundance of MPs reached a maximum level at the mouth of the river's sampling point T1 during the wet season and typhoon period.…”

Section: Temporal and Spatial Variation Characteristics Of Mp Abundan...supporting

confidence: 64%

Temporal and Spatial Distribution Characteristics of Microplastics and Their Influencing Factors in the Lincheng River, Zhoushan City, China

Chen

Wang

et al. 2023

Processes

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Microplastics (MPs), a new type of pollutant, pose a significant threat to the environment at high concentrations. One of the primary sources of MPs in the ocean is river runoff, highlighting the need to investigate the spatial and temporal variations of MPs in rivers that flow into the sea, as well as their contributing factors. In this study, we analyzed MPs distribution and their influence factors in the Lincheng River, China. The Lincheng is the second largest river in Zhoushan island that directly flows into the ocean. MPs in the river water and sediments were detected during the wet season (July 2021), the dry season (November 2021) and the typhoon season (September 2021), and MPs were present in all reaches of the river. The abundance of MPs in the river was moderate compared to other studies, with the river water exhibiting a concentration of 15 ± 2.64 n/L and the sediment containing 318.24 ± 49.53 n/kg of MPs. In surface water, the most commonly found MP was blue man-made cellulose (CE), while the sediment contained mostly fragments of polypropylene (PP) and polypropylene polyethylene blends (PP + PE) in blue and green colors. The abundance of MPs showed significant seasonal differences, with higher abundance during the wet season compared to the dry season and typhoon period. Furthermore, local construction activities may contribute to higher MP abundance. To explore the influence factors of MPs, the Basin Development Index (BDI) was proposed, and a positive correlation between BDI and MP abundance was founded. This correlation indicates that the increase in land use for construction highly contributes to the MP pollution. In conclusion, future long-term monitoring of the abundance of MPs in the Lincheng River is necessary.

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Section: Temporal and Spatial Variation Characteristics Of Mp Abundan...supporting

confidence: 64%

Temporal and Spatial Distribution Characteristics of Microplastics and Their Influencing Factors in the Lincheng River, Zhoushan City, China

Chen

Wang

et al. 2023

Processes

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“…Emissions estimates have been made based on direct measurement of microplastics in runoff combined with different modeled scenarios to produce annual and city-wide emissions estimates (Sutton et al, 2019;Piñon-Colin et al, 2020;Chen et al, 2022). However, concentrations and characteristics of microplastics in stormwater vary between storms and within individual storm events (Treilles et al, 2021;Boni et al, 2022;Sun et al, 2023), which may be reflected in the temporal variability of microplastics observed in urban surface water (Hitchcock 2020;Wei et al, 2022). To better understand the influence of stormwater on changes in concentrations of microplastics in surface waters, an improved understanding of microplastic discharge during individual rain events is needed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimated discharge of microplastics via urban stormwater during individual rain events

Ross

Loutan²,

Groeneveld³

et al. 2023

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Urban stormwater runoff is an important pathway for the introduction of microplastics and other anthropogenic pollutants into aquatic environments. Highly variable concentrations of microplastics have been reported globally in runoff, but knowledge of key factors within urban environments contributing to this variability remains limited. Furthermore, few studies to date have quantitatively assessed the release of microplastics to receiving waters via runoff. The objectives of this study were to assess the influence of different catchment characteristics on the type and amount of microplastics in runoff and to provide an estimate of the quantity of microplastics discharged during rain events. Stormwater samples were collected during both dry periods (baseflow) and rain events from 15 locations throughout the city of Calgary, Canada’s fourth largest city. These catchments ranged in size and contained different types of predominant land use. Microplastics were found in all samples, with total concentrations ranging from 0.7 to 200.4 pcs/L (mean = 31.9 pcs/L). Fibers were the most prevalent morphology identified (47.7 ± 33.0%), and the greatest percentage of microplastics were found in the 125–250 µm size range (26.6 ± 22.9%) followed by the 37–125 µm size range (24.0 ± 22.3%). Particles were predominantly black (33.5 ± 33.8%), transparent (22.6 ± 31.3%), or blue (16.0 ± 21.6%). Total concentrations, dominant morphologies, and size distributions of microplastics differed between rain events and baseflow, with smaller particles and higher concentrations being found during rain events. Concentrations did not differ significantly amongst catchments with different land use types, but concentrations were positively correlated with maximum runoff flow rate, catchment size, and the percentage of impervious surface area within a catchment. Combining microplastic concentrations with hydrograph data collected during rain events, we estimated that individual outfalls discharged between 1.9 million to 9.6 billion microplastics to receiving waters per rain event. These results provide further evidence that urban stormwater runoff is a significant pathway for the introduction of microplastics into aquatic environments and suggests that mitigation strategies for microplastic pollution should focus on larger urbanized catchments.

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“…Our findings revealed high abundances of MPs ranging from 7590 ± 2169 to 136,778 ± 17,925 items m −3 in the rainfall (Figure 1), even exceeding those in river water. 24 The results highlight the previously underappreciated role of rainfall in MP deposition 19 and suggests the urgent need for further research to explore the sources and potential environmental impacts of MPs in rainfall.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 83%

“…1 In addition, a higher average proportion of smaller MPs (∼70%) was reported for both wet and dry deposition combined in the protected areas of the United States. 2 Although MP abundance in rainfall was much higher than that in the Qing River of Beijing, 24,40 the rainfall was found to dilute the MP abundance in the river. 24 This phenomenon was attributed to the opening of barrages and increased flow velocity.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…20,21 Some studies have reported aggravated MP contamination in aquatic and soil environments after rainfall, 22,23 providing indirect evidence that precipitation can efficiently scavenge atmospheric MPs. In contrast, others also showed that rainfall can dilute riverine MP contamination, 24 potentially attributed to the flushing of riverine MPs to downstream areas, as well as the lower MP abundance in the rainfall than that in the river. Besides, high quantities of MPs have been observed in the total deposition samples (dry and wet), which directly proves the role of precipitation in alleviating atmospheric MP contamination.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Wet Deposition of Globally Transportable Microplastics (<25 μm) Hovering over the Megacity of Beijing

Chen

Niu

et al. 2023

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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Microplastics of size <25 μm possess globally transportable features, but the impact of precipitation on their transport remains unclear. Here, microplastics were detected in all 10 studied rainfalls in Beijing, with <25 μm microplastics present in 8 rainfalls. Interestingly, microplastic abundance (7590–136,778 items·m–3) was tentatively linked to maximum rainfall intensity, with <25 μm microplastics making up 39.6 (±27.5)% of the total count. The composition of <25 μm microplastics differed from that of larger microplastics, although both mainly comprised polystyrene, polyethylene, and polypropylene. The microplastic communities differed among rainfalls, suggesting that atmospheric transport is a highly dynamic process. The first rainfall exhibited the highest microplastic abundance and community diversity after long-term exposure to dry atmospheric environment. The deposited microplastics were unstable and highly fragmented according to the conditional fragmentation model. The wet deposition rate of the microplastics was calculated as 2–463 μg·m–2 (146–8629 items·m–2) per rain, amounting to 25.44 tons per annum in Beijing. Although <25 μm microplastics represented a negligible proportion (0.00–1.24%) of the overall mass load of microplastics, their numerical abundance was high. Our results demonstrate that precipitation is an effective mechanism for removing airborne microplastics, which may enter urban soils and waters, exacerbate microplastic burdens in the environment, and cause potential risk for human health.

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Microplastic reorganization in urban river before and after rainfall

Cited by 32 publications

References 55 publications

Temporal and Spatial Distribution Characteristics of Microplastics and Their Influencing Factors in the Lincheng River, Zhoushan City, China

Temporal and Spatial Distribution Characteristics of Microplastics and Their Influencing Factors in the Lincheng River, Zhoushan City, China

Estimated discharge of microplastics via urban stormwater during individual rain events

Wet Deposition of Globally Transportable Microplastics (<25 μm) Hovering over the Megacity of Beijing

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