Akdogan Zeynep, Guven Basak, Kideys Ahmet E
Institute of Environmental Sciences, Boğazici University, Bebek, 34342, Istanbul, Turkey.
Institute of Environmental Sciences, Boğazici University, Bebek, 34342, Istanbul, Turkey.
Environ Res. 2023 Oct 1;234:116500. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.116500. Epub 2023 Jun 24.
Rivers are major transport pathways for microplastics to reach the oceans. Although gained much attention over the last few years, there is still a relatively lack of knowledge on microplastics in rivers. This study aims to investigate (i) spatiotemporal distribution of microplastics in an industrially polluted river, (ii) the relationship of microplastic abundance with river's morphological and hydrodynamic characteristics (iii) the potential sources of microplastics inferred from the particle characteristics including shape, size, color and type. To achieve these aims, water and sediment samples were collected from six sites upstream of the Ergene River in May 2019 and Sep 2020. According to the results, surface water had an average concentration of 4.65 ± 2.06 and 6.90 ± 5.16 items L (mean ± standard deviation, n = 12), respectively for the May 2019 and September 2020 periods, whereas 97.90 ± 71.72 and 277.76 ± 207.21 items kg (n = 18) were observed for the sediment compartment, respectively. Microplastic levels in water correlated positively with stream depth but negatively with channel width. Fibers were the dominating shape both in water (88%) and sediment (70%) and majority of the particles were black (49% in water and 39% in sediment) and blue (25% in water and 18% in sediment). According to Raman spectroscopic analysis, polyethylene terephthalate (PET, 28%) and polyamide (PA, 27%) were dominating polymers in water, while polystyrene (PS, 56%) were dominant in sediment. Compared to many other rivers, the Ergene River had excessive levels of microplastics. The research indicated that textile industries and effluents from organized industrial zones were the foremost contributor of microplastics in the river.
河流是微塑料进入海洋的主要运输途径。尽管在过去几年中受到了广泛关注，但目前对河流中微塑料的了解仍然相对较少。本研究旨在调查：（i）一条受工业污染河流中微塑料的时空分布；（ii）微塑料丰度与河流形态和水动力特征的关系；（iii）从颗粒特征（包括形状、大小、颜色和类型）推断微塑料的潜在来源。为实现这些目标，于2019年5月和2020年9月从埃尔盖内河上游的六个地点采集了水样和沉积物样本。结果显示，2019年5月和2020年9月期间，地表水的平均浓度分别为4.65±2.06和6.90±5.16个/升（平均值±标准差，n = 12），而沉积物中的微塑料含量分别为97.90±71.72和277.76±207.21个/千克（n = 18）。水中微塑料水平与河流深度呈正相关，但与河道宽度呈负相关。纤维是水中（88%）和沉积物（70%）中占主导地位的形状，大多数颗粒为黑色（水中49%，沉积物中39%）和蓝色（水中25%，沉积物中18%）。根据拉曼光谱分析，聚对苯二甲酸乙二酯（PET，28%）和聚酰胺（PA，27%）是水中的主要聚合物，而聚苯乙烯（PS，56%）是沉积物中的主要聚合物。与许多其他河流相比，埃尔盖内河的微塑料含量过高。研究表明，纺织工业和有组织工业区的废水是河流中微塑料的主要来源。
