Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6, Canada.
Institute of Environmental Science, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6, Canada.
Environ Monit Assess. 2023 May 8;195(6):645. doi: 10.1007/s10661-023-11277-8.
River water was sampled at 105 locations in the Ottawa River watershed and analysed for microplastics. Sampling techniques were standardised and replicated at each sample location to give an indication of the spatial extent of microplastics at the watershed scale. Microplastic concentrations remained largely uniform, with no clear accumulation of microplastics towards the lower reaches of the watershed. An ANCOVA analysis determined that the only significant relationships to microplastic concentration were distance downstream on the main channel and tributaries and an increase of microplastic concentrations at boat launch locations. However, these relationships were not strong (R value of 0.15) and suggest a more complex interaction of microplastics in large watersheds. It is recommended that further research on microplastic pollution in rivers needs to also focus on temporal factors in addition to considering sinks as an important element in the distribution of microplastics at the watershed scale.
在渥太华河流域的 105 个地点采集了河水样本，并对其中的微塑料进行了分析。在每个采样点都采用了标准化和复制的采样技术，以表明流域范围内微塑料的空间分布范围。微塑料浓度基本保持均匀，流域下游没有明显的微塑料聚集。ANCOVA 分析确定，与微塑料浓度唯一显著相关的因素是主河道和支流的下游距离以及船只下水点的微塑料浓度增加。然而，这些关系并不强（R 值为 0.15），表明在大流域中微塑料的相互作用更为复杂。因此建议，对河流中微塑料污染的进一步研究除了考虑汇作为微塑料在流域尺度上分布的重要因素外，还需要关注时间因素。
