Occurrence of microplastics pollution in the Yangtze River: Distinct characteristics of spatial distribution and basin-wide ecological risk assessment

Huang, Qian'en; Liu, Mengge; Cao, Xuewen; Liu, Ze

doi:10.1016/j.watres.2022.119431

Cited by 42 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…The Yangtze River, with a length of 6300 km, is the longest river in China and Asia and the third longest river in the world, with a highly mismanaged plastic waste generation. 4,30 We compiled research for the Yangtze River Basin (the most studied region on MPs in the world 31 ) with high data integrity and availability by searching literature in the Web of Science and Scopus in June 2022. Our query included "Yangtze" and "microplastic*" and was limited to literature-type "Article", yielding 60 articles.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Starting from the perspective that wastewater discharge from WWTPs is the primary source of riverine MPs, we sought to explore the spatial extent and distribution of wastewater discharge and how it affects MP abundance in rivers. The Yangtze River, with a length of 6300 km, is the longest river in China and Asia and the third longest river in the world, with a highly mismanaged plastic waste generation. , We compiled research for the Yangtze River Basin (the most studied region on MPs in the world) with high data integrity and availability by searching literature in the Web of Science and Scopus in June 2022. Our query included “Yangtze” and “microplastic * ” and was limited to literature-type “ Article ”, yielding 60 articles.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Wastewater Discharge Transports Riverine Microplastics over Long Distances

Chen,

Cowger,

Nava

et al. 2024

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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Wastewater discharge from wastewater treatment plants continuously pumps microplastics into rivers, yet their transport distances within these waterways remain unknown. Herein, we developed a conceptual framework by synthesizing the microplastic data from the Yangtze River Basin to evaluate its transport distances, quantifying a significant spatial dependence between largescale wastewater discharge and riverine microplastics (p < 0.05). The presence of microplastics at a specific sampling site could be attributed to wastewater discharge within a large-scale range spanning >1000 km upstream, encompassing a substantial portion equivalent to one-third of the Yangtze River Basin. The dominance analysis indicated that the contribution of wastewater discharge in rivers with higher discharge (>100 m 3 /s) to riverine microplastic pollution exceeded 65% within the Yangtze River Basin. The spatial dependence framework of riverine microplastics on wastewater discharge advances our prior understanding of the prevention and control of riverine microplastics by demonstrating that such pollution is not limited to nearby environmental factors.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wastewater Discharge Transports Riverine Microplastics over Long Distances

Chen,

Cowger,

Nava

et al. 2024

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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“…where C i is the microplastic abundance in a sample; C 0 is defined as the background value, which was the lowest abundance of microplastics detected in the present investigation [34,35]; CF i represents the pollution load factor of microplastics in a sample. Based on previous experiences [36,37], PLI is divided into four levels: I (low, 0-10), II (medium, 11-20), III (high, 21-30), and IV (extremely high, >30).…”

Section: Microplastic Pollution Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microplastic Transportation in a Typical Drinking Water Supply: From Raw Water to Household Water

Sun,

Zhu,

et al. 2024

Water

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Microplastics in drinking water have attracted increasing global concerns due to their potential adverse impacts on human health. However, there needs to be more knowledge of the occurrence and distribution of microplastics in drinking water systems from water sources to household tap water. Herein, laser direct infrared spectroscopy is used to investigate the occurrence of microplastics in a typical drinking water plant with different water sources. Microplastic information is further used to understand microplastic fates during drinking water supply, including microplastic abundance, size, shape, and polymer type. Overall, the microplastic abundance in treated water ranges from 12.00 to 25.33 particles/L, higher than those in raw water (RW; 2.33–17.33 particles/L) and household water (HW; 8.00–19.67 particles/L), which shows that microplastics are not removed from RW. The main polymers in these microplastics are polyethylene terephthalate, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene, and polypropylene. At the same time, the main microplastic shapes are fragments and fibers. Small-sized microplastics of 20–100 μm account for up to 76.74% and 79.30% of microplastics during the dry and wet seasons, respectively. Additionally, more microplastics are detected in RW from rivers than those from reservoirs and lakes, and the microplastic abundance in the wet season is higher than that in the dry season. As expected, the potential ecological risk of microplastics in all waters is the I level, which is the lowest level. Most importantly, the annual microplastic intake of an adult via drinking water is 5063–18,301 microplastics, less than that reported in previous studies. These results provide valuable data on the fates of microplastics in drinking water supply systems from water sources to HW and promote authorities to update the treatment technologies for drinking water in the future to remove microplastics efficiently.

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“…Exposure to microplastics will pose a certain risk to the ecosystem and human health. 15 Taihu Lake is one of the five major freshwater lakes in China, and as a major lake upstream of the estuary of the Yangtze River, it is of great importance to study the contribution of MPs in its inlet rivers. Although the contribution of MPs in Taihu Lake has been reported, there is a lack of data on the spatial distribution pattern and ecological risk assessment in the inlet rivers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…MPs in freshwater have been reported globally, with research covering rivers, lakes, and reservoirs. ,− Plastic pollution is also serious in China as elsewhere and is considered to be from the river to the ocean. , The Yangtze River is the third longest river in the world, and about one-third of the population in China lives in the Yangtze River basin. Exposure to microplastics will pose a certain risk to the ecosystem and human health . Taihu Lake is one of the five major freshwater lakes in China, and as a major lake upstream of the estuary of the Yangtze River, it is of great importance to study the contribution of MPs in its inlet rivers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial Distribution of Microplastics in Water and Sediments of Main Rivers in Taihu Lake Basin

Gao,

Li,

et al. 2023

ACS EST Water

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Contemporary research on microplastic pollution has mainly focused on the ocean as a large sink, with a few studies involving relatively small sinks such as inland rivers and lakes. Taihu Lake is a typical inland lake and is the third largest freshwater lake in China. In this study, the spatial and temporal distribution, abundance, particle size, polymer composition, and ecological risk indices of microplastics in the water and sediments of 15 major inlet rivers in the Taihu Lake basin were investigated. The abundance of fibrous microplastics was the highest among the four characterized microplastic types. The particle size of microplastics in the water column and sediment was mainly in the range of 20–200 μm. The main component of microplastics in the water column was polyurethane, while in the sediment the main component of microplastics was polyurethane. Fibrous microplastics with a principal size of 20–100 μm are the main component of microplastics in landscape river sediments. The navigable rivers had the highest abundance of microplastics. All three river types have an environmental risk rating of III, which is at a medium to high level. The results of this study provide a reliable basis for the study of this sink in inland lakes.

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Occurrence of microplastics pollution in the Yangtze River: Distinct characteristics of spatial distribution and basin-wide ecological risk assessment

Cited by 42 publications

References 48 publications

Wastewater Discharge Transports Riverine Microplastics over Long Distances

Wastewater Discharge Transports Riverine Microplastics over Long Distances

Microplastic Transportation in a Typical Drinking Water Supply: From Raw Water to Household Water

Spatial Distribution of Microplastics in Water and Sediments of Main Rivers in Taihu Lake Basin

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