University of Canberra, Faculty of Science and Technology, Institute for Applied Ecology, Centre for Applied Water Science, Australia; University of Sydney, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, Australia.
Sci Total Environ. 2020 Sep 10;734:139436. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139436. Epub 2020 May 13.
Microplastic (MP) pollution is an emerging issue in aquatic sciences. Rain and storm events are responsible for the mobilization and transport of a range of pollutants in aquatic systems, yet to date no study has examined how microplastic abundance changes in waterways during such events. The aim of this study was to determine how microplastic concentrations changed over the course of the storm event in an urban estuary. Sampling was conducted at high frequency before, during, and after a storm event that caused flooding in the Cooks River estuary, Australia. Microplastic abundance increased during two days of heavy rain from 400 particles m before storm event to up to 17,383 particles m after the event. Variation in microplastic abundance was positively related to five-day average antecedent rainfall. The results highlight the importance of rain and storm events as key moments of microplastic contamination in aquatic systems. The results have implications for considering the maximum number of microplastics that aquatic life may be exposed to and the importance of strategies to manage stormwater to minimize the input of microplastics to aquatic ecosystems.
微塑料（MP）污染是水科学中的一个新兴问题。降雨和风暴事件是水系统中多种污染物迁移和传输的原因，但迄今为止，尚无研究探讨此类事件期间水道中微塑料丰度的变化情况。本研究旨在确定在澳大利亚库克河口的风暴事件期间，微塑料浓度如何随时间变化。在导致河口泛滥的风暴事件之前、期间和之后，以高频率进行了采样。在两天的大雨中，微塑料的丰度从风暴前的 400 个颗粒/立方米增加到事件后的 17383 个颗粒/立方米。微塑料丰度的变化与五天平均前期降雨量呈正相关。研究结果强调了降雨和风暴事件作为水系统中微塑料污染关键时期的重要性。这些结果对考虑水生生物可能暴露于微塑料的最大数量以及管理雨水以最大程度减少微塑料输入水生生态系统的策略具有重要意义。
