School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Sir Martin Evan Building, Cardiff CF10 3AX, UK; Department of Biosciences, University of Exeter, Geoffrey Pope Building, Exeter EX4 4PS, UK.
School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Sir Martin Evan Building, Cardiff CF10 3AX, UK.
Sci Total Environ. 2019 Jan 1;646:68-74. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.07.271. Epub 2018 Jul 20.
Although microplastics are a recognised pollutant in marine environments, less attention has been directed towards freshwater ecosystems despite their greater proximity to possible plastic sources. Here, we quantify the presence of microplastic particles (MPs) in river organisms upstream and downstream of five UK Wastewater Treatment Works (WwTWs). MPs were identified in approximately 50% of macroinvertebrate samples collected (Baetidae, Heptageniidae and Hydropsychidae) at concentrations up to 0.14 MP mg tissue and they occurred at all sites. MP abundance was associated with macroinvertebrate biomass and taxonomic family, but MPs occurred independently of feeding guild and biological traits such as habitat affinity and ecological niche. There was no increase in plastic ingestion downstream of WwTW discharges averaged across sites, but MP abundance in macroinvertebrates marginally increased where effluent discharges contributed more to total runoff and declined with increasing river discharge. The ubiquity of microplastics within macroinvertebrates in this case study reveals a potential risk from MPs entering riverine food webs through at least two pathways, involving detritivory and filter-feeding, and we recommend closer attention to freshwater ecosystems in future research.
虽然微塑料是海洋环境中的一种公认污染物，但与可能的塑料来源相比，人们对淡水生态系统的关注较少。在这里，我们定量分析了英国五家污水处理厂（WwTW）上下游河流生物体内微塑料颗粒（MPs）的存在情况。在采集的大约 50%的大型无脊椎动物样本（蜉蝣科、石蝇科和水螅科）中发现了 MPs，其浓度高达 0.14 MPs mg 组织，而且在所有地点都有 MPs 存在。MP 丰度与大型无脊椎动物生物量和分类家族有关，但与摄食群体以及栖息地偏好和生态位等生物特征无关。在考虑了所有站点后，WwTW 排放口下游的塑料摄入量并没有增加，但在污水排放对总径流量贡献更大的地方，大型无脊椎动物体内的 MPs 丰度略有增加，而随着河流径流量的增加而减少。在本案例研究中，微塑料在大型无脊椎动物体内的普遍存在表明， MPs 通过至少两种途径进入河流食物网，涉及碎屑食性和滤食性，存在潜在风险，我们建议在未来的研究中更加关注淡水生态系统。
