School of Hydraulic Engineering, Changsha University of Science &Technology, Changsha, 410114, China; Key Laboratory of Dongting Lake Aquatic Eco-Environmental Control and Restoration of Hunan Province, Changsha, 410114, China.
School of Hydraulic Engineering, Changsha University of Science &Technology, Changsha, 410114, China; Key Laboratory of Dongting Lake Aquatic Eco-Environmental Control and Restoration of Hunan Province, Changsha, 410114, China.
Environ Pollut. 2019 Jun;249:91-98. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2019.03.022. Epub 2019 Mar 11.
The Tibet Plateau, the so-called Third Pole of the world, is home to the headstreams of many great rivers. The levels of microplastic pollution in those rivers, however, are unknown. In this study, surface water and sediment samples were collected from six sampling sites along five different rivers. The surface water and sediment samples were collected with a large flow sampler and a stainless steel shovel, respectively. The abundance of microplastics ranged from 483 to 967 items/m in the surface water and from 50 to 195 items/kg in the sediment. A large amount of small, fibrous, transparent microplastics were found in this study. Five types of microplastics with different chemical compositions were identified using micro-Raman spectroscopy: polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), and polyamide (PA). These results demonstrate that rivers in the Tibet Plateau have been contaminated by microplastics, not only in developed areas with intense human activity but also in remote areas, where microplastic pollution requires further attention.
青藏高原，世界的第三极，是许多大江大河的发源地。然而，这些河流中的微塑料污染水平尚不清楚。在这项研究中，从五条不同河流的六个采样点采集了地表水和沉积物样品。使用大流量采样器和不锈钢铲分别采集地表水和沉积物样品。微塑料的丰度范围为地表水 483 至 967 项/m，沉积物 50 至 195 项/kg。本研究中发现了大量小的、纤维状、透明的微塑料。使用微拉曼光谱法鉴定了五种具有不同化学成分的微塑料：聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯 (PET)、聚乙烯 (PE)、聚丙烯 (PP)、聚苯乙烯 (PS) 和聚酰胺 (PA)。这些结果表明，青藏高原的河流不仅在人类活动强烈的发达地区，而且在偏远地区也受到了微塑料污染的影响，微塑料污染需要进一步关注。
