CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Marine Biology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Marine Biology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China.
Sci Total Environ. 2018 Dec 10;644:375-381. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.06.327. Epub 2018 Jul 5.
Microplastics, as emerging contaminants in the global environment, have become a cause for concern for both academics and the public. The present understanding of microplastic pollution is primarily focused on marine environments, and less attention has been given to freshwater environments, in particular, to urban rivers. In this study, microplastics were sampled from surface water and sediments in 14 sites located in the lower course of the Pearl River. These sampling sites are located along Guangzhou of South China, with built-up areas being the dominant land use. The abundances of microplastics in surface water and sediments ranged from 379 to 7924 items·m and 80 to 9597 items·kg, respectively. Polyethylene and polypropylene were the common types of microplastics, together accounting for 64.3% and 73.8% of surface water and sediment samples, respectively. Fibers were the dominant microplastic shapes in both water and sediment samples. The abundances of microplastics varied in surface water and sediments with each site, which might be affected by multiple factors. Our results indicated that wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) could reduce microplastics from municipal sewage which was finally discharged into the Pearl River along Guangzhou.
微塑料作为全球环境中的新兴污染物，引起了学术界和公众的关注。目前对微塑料污染的认识主要集中在海洋环境，而对淡水环境，特别是城市河流的关注较少。本研究从珠江下游的 14 个地点采集了地表水和沉积物中的微塑料样本。这些采样点位于中国南方的广州，以建成区为主要土地利用类型。微塑料在地表水和沉积物中的丰度范围分别为 379 至 7924 项·m 和 80 至 9597 项·kg。聚乙烯和聚丙烯是常见的微塑料类型，分别占地表水和沉积物样本的 64.3%和 73.8%。纤维是水和沉积物样本中主要的微塑料形状。每个采样点的微塑料丰度在地表水和沉积物中都有所不同，这可能受到多种因素的影响。我们的结果表明，污水处理厂（WWTP）可以减少从城市污水中释放到珠江的微塑料，这些污水最终在广州排入珠江。
