School of Geography and Ocean Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China; Key Laboratory of Coastal Zone Exploitation and Protection, Ministry of Natural Resources, Nanjing, 210024, China.
School of Geography and Ocean Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China; Key Laboratory of Coastal Zone Exploitation and Protection, Ministry of Natural Resources, Nanjing, 210024, China.
Environ Pollut. 2023 Jun 15;327:121631. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121631. Epub 2023 Apr 12.
Microplastic pollution is widespread in terrestrial and aquatic environments; however, a systematic assessment of the ecological risks of microplastics is lacking. This study collected research studies on microplastics in soil, aquatic and sediment environments, and screened 128 articles including 3459 sites to assess the ecological risks posed by microplastics in China following a literature quality assessment. We developed a systematic ecological risk assessment framework for microplastics in terms of spatial characterization, biotoxicity and anthropogenic impacts. The results of the pollution load index indicated that 74% and 47% of the soil and aquatic environments studied, respectively, faced a medium or higher level of pollution. Comparing predicted no effect concentrations (PNEC) and measured environmental concentrations (MECs), revealed that soil (97.70%) and aquatic (50.77%) environmental studies were at serious ecological risk from microplastics. The results of the pressure-state-response model showed that the microplastic pollution in Pearl River Delta was in a high-risk state. In addition, we found that ultraviolet radiation and rainfall exacerbate soil microplastic pollution, and higher river runoff may carry large amounts of microplastic from the source. The framework developed in this study will help assess the ecological risks of microplastics in the region to promote the mitigation of plastic pollution.
微塑料污染广泛存在于陆地和水生环境中，但缺乏对微塑料生态风险的系统评估。本研究收集了土壤、水和沉积物环境中微塑料的研究，并通过文献质量评估，筛选了包括 3459 个地点的 128 篇文章，以评估中国微塑料的生态风险。我们根据空间特征、生物毒性和人为影响制定了微塑料系统生态风险评估框架。污染负荷指数的结果表明，分别有 74%和 47%的土壤和水生环境处于中高污染水平。比较预测无效应浓度（PNEC）和实测环境浓度（MEC）表明，土壤（97.70%）和水生（50.77%）环境研究受到微塑料的严重生态风险。压力-状态-响应模型的结果表明，珠江三角洲的微塑料污染处于高风险状态。此外，我们发现紫外线辐射和降雨会加剧土壤微塑料污染，而较高的河流径流量可能会从源头携带大量的微塑料。本研究中开发的框架将有助于评估该地区微塑料的生态风险，以促进塑料污染的缓解。
