Microplastics profile along the Rhine River

Mani, Thomas; Hauk, Armin; Walter, U.; Burkhardt‐Holm, Patricia

doi:10.1038/srep17988

Cited by 783 publications

(432 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Monitoring studies have quantified microscopic plastics debris, so-called microplastics (MPs), in freshwater systems, including riverine beaches, surface waters and sediments of rivers, lake, and reservoirs [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. Although far less data is available compared to marine systems, these studies highlight that MP is ubiquitous and concentrations are comparable [20].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent monitoring studies have established that -similar to marine environments -MPs are ubiquitously found in a variety of freshwater matrices. Reported MP concentrations in surface water samples of the Rhine river (Germany) average 892,777 particles km À2 with a peak concentration of 3.9 million particles km À2 [15]. In river shore sediments the number of particles ranged from 228 to 3,763 and 786 to 1,368 particles kg À1 along the rivers Rhine and Main (Germany), respectively [19].…”

Section: Occurrence In Freshwater Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Microplastics Are Contaminants of Emerging Concern in Freshwater Environments: An Overview

Lambert

Wagner

2017

The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry

227

137

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In recent years, interest in the environmental occurrence and effects of microplastics (MPs) has shifted towards our inland waters, and in this chapter we provide an overview of the issues that may be of concern for freshwater environments. The term 'contaminant of emerging concern' does not only apply to chemical pollutants but to MPs as well because it has been detected ubiquitously in freshwater systems. The environmental release of MPs will occur from a wide variety of sources, including emissions from wastewater treatment plants and from the degradation of larger plastic debris items. Due to the chemical makeup of plastic materials, receiving environments are potentially exposed to a mixture of microand nano-sized particles, leached additives, and subsequent degradation products, which will become bioavailable for a range of biota. The ingestion of MPs by aquatic organisms has been demonstrated, but the long-term effects of continuous exposures are less well understood. Technological developments and changes in demographics will influence the types of MPs and environmental concentrations in the future, and it will be important to develop approaches to mitigate the input of synthetic polymers to freshwater ecosystems.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Occurrence In Freshwater Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microplastics Are Contaminants of Emerging Concern in Freshwater Environments: An Overview

Lambert

Wagner

2017

The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry

227

137

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Microplastics were found in all samples, with 892,777 particles per km 2 on average. These microplastics concentrations were diverse across the river, reflecting various sources and sinks such as wastewater treatment plants, tributaries and weirs (Mani et al 2015).…”

Section: Solid Waste and Watermentioning

confidence: 99%

The challenges of water, waste and climate change in cities

Koop

Leeuwen

2016

Environ Dev Sustain

329

157

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Cities play a prominent role in our economic development as more than 80 % of the gross world product (GWP) comes from cities. Only 600 urban areas with just 20 % of the world population generate 60 % of the GWP. Rapid urbanization, climate change, inadequate maintenance of water and wastewater infrastructures and poor solid waste management may lead to flooding, water scarcity, water pollution, adverse health effects and rehabilitation costs that may overwhelm the resilience of cities. These megatrends pose urgent challenges in cities as the cost of inaction is high. We present an overview about population growth, urbanization, water, waste, climate change, water governance and transitions. Against this background, we discuss the categorization of cities based on our baseline assessments, i.e. our City Blueprint research on 45 municipalities and regions predominantly in Europe. With this bias towards Europe in mind, the challenges can be discussed globally by clustering cities into distinct categories of sustainability and by providing additional data and information from global regions. We distinguish five categories of sustainability: (1) cities lacking basic water services, (2) wasteful cities, (3) water-efficient cities, (4) resource-efficient and adaptive cities and (5) water-wise cities. Many cities in Western Europe belong to categories 3 and 4. Some cities in Eastern Europe and the few cities we have assessed in Latin America, Asia and Africa can be categorized as cities lacking basic water services. Lack of water infrastructures or obsolete infrastructures, solid waste management and climate adaptation are priorities. It is concluded that cities require a long-term framing of their sectoral challenges into a proactive and coherent Urban Agenda to maximize the co-benefits of adaptation and to minimize the cost. Furthermore, regional platforms of cities are needed to enhance city-to-city learning and to improve governance capacities necessary to accelerate effective and efficient transitions towards water-wise cities. These learning alliances are needed as the time window to solve the global water governance crisis is narrow and rapidly closing. The water sector can play an important role but needs to reframe and refocus radically.

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“…In the Taihu Lake in China, microplastic abundances were highest in the most heavily contaminated areas of the lake, and abundances observed in plankton net samples were the highest reported worldwide, from 0.01 9 10 6 to 6.8 9 10 6 items per km 2 [88]. The rest of the literature reviewed here between 2011 and 2016 comprises one study from Africa and several studies across Europe: Switzerland [31,32], Italy [34,50,93], France [22], Germany [23,55,61,94], Netherlands [7], Austria [57], and the UK [70]; ( Fig. 2; Online Resource 1).…”

Section: Microplastics In Freshwater Environmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Micro- and Nanoplastic Pollution of Freshwater and Wastewater Treatment Systems

Blair

Waldron

Phoenix

et al. 2017

Springer Science Reviews

138

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Plastic waste is a widespread and persistent global challenge with negative impacts on the environment, economy, human health and aesthetics. Plastic pollution has been a focus of environmental research over the past few decades, particularly in relation to macroplastics that are easily visible by the naked eye. More recently, smaller plastic waste at the micro-and nanoscale has become of increasing concern, resulting in extensive investment in research to advance knowledge on the sources, distribution, fate and impact of these materials in aquatic systems. However, owing to their small sizes and a lack of unified methods, adequate quantitative and qualitative assessment has been difficult. Furthermore, most of the microplastic surveys available to date have focussed in the marine environment while scarce knowledge exists of freshwater systems. Because the majority of marine debris originates on land, the role of wastewater treatment systems and natural fluvial vectors in delivering these emerging contaminants to the environment should be explored. Considering fundamental aspects pertaining to microplastic sources, distribution, mobility and degradation in these systems is crucial for developing effective control measures and strategies to mitigate the discharge of these particles to the sea.

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Microplastics profile along the Rhine River

Cited by 783 publications

References 34 publications

Microplastics Are Contaminants of Emerging Concern in Freshwater Environments: An Overview

Microplastics Are Contaminants of Emerging Concern in Freshwater Environments: An Overview

The challenges of water, waste and climate change in cities

Micro- and Nanoplastic Pollution of Freshwater and Wastewater Treatment Systems

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