Microplastic pollution in estuaries across a gradient of human impact

Hitchcock, JN; Mitrovic, SM

Microplastic pollution in estuaries across a gradient of human impact

Hitchcock, JN

Mitrovic, SM

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Environmental Pollution, 2019, 247 pp. 457 - 466
Issue Date:: 2019-04-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Hitchcock, JN https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0113-6001	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Mitrovic, SM https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5528-2215	en_US
dc.date.available	2019-01-18	en_US
dc.date.issued	2019-04-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Environmental Pollution, 2019, 247 pp. 457 - 466	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0269-7491	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/136097
dc.description.abstract	© 2019 Elsevier Ltd Microplastic (MP) pollution is an emerging issue in aquatic sciences. Little comparative information currently exists about the problem in coastal systems exposed to different levels of human impact. Here we report a year-long study on the abundance of MP in the water column of three estuaries on the east-coast of Australia. The estuaries are subject to different scales of human impact; the Clyde estuary has little human modification, the Bega estuary has a small township and single wastewater treatment works discharging to its waters, and the Hunter estuary which has multiple townships, multiple wastewater treatment plants, and heavy industry. MP abundance followed an expected pattern with the lowest abundance in the low-impact Clyde estuary (98 part. m3), moderate levels of MP in the moderately impacted Bega estuary (246 part. m3), and high MP abundance in the highly impacted Hunter estuary (1032 part. m3). The majority of particles were <200 μm and fragment-like rather than fiber-like. MP abundance was positively related to maximum antecedent rainfall in the Bega estuary, however there are no clear environmental factors that could explain MP variation in the other systems. MP were generally higher in summer and following freshwater inflow events. On the Hunter estuary MP abundance was at times as high as zooplankton abundance, and within the range of numbers reported in other highly impacted systems globally. The results confirm that higher levels of human impact lead to greater plastic pollution and highlight the need to examine aquatic ecosystems under a range of conditions in order to adequately characterize the extent of MP pollution in rivers and coastal systems.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Environmental Pollution	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1016/j.envpol.2019.01.069	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Environmental Sciences	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Animals	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Humans	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Zooplankton	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Plastics	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Water Pollutants, Chemical	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Seasons	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Fresh Water	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Rivers	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Environmental Monitoring	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Australia	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Waste Water	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Estuaries	en_US
dc.title	Microplastic pollution in estuaries across a gradient of human impact	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	247	en_US
utslib.for	0502 Environmental Science and Management	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science/School of Life Sciences
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	247	en_US

Abstract:

© 2019 Elsevier Ltd Microplastic (MP) pollution is an emerging issue in aquatic sciences. Little comparative information currently exists about the problem in coastal systems exposed to different levels of human impact. Here we report a year-long study on the abundance of MP in the water column of three estuaries on the east-coast of Australia. The estuaries are subject to different scales of human impact; the Clyde estuary has little human modification, the Bega estuary has a small township and single wastewater treatment works discharging to its waters, and the Hunter estuary which has multiple townships, multiple wastewater treatment plants, and heavy industry. MP abundance followed an expected pattern with the lowest abundance in the low-impact Clyde estuary (98 part. m3), moderate levels of MP in the moderately impacted Bega estuary (246 part. m3), and high MP abundance in the highly impacted Hunter estuary (1032 part. m3). The majority of particles were <200 μm and fragment-like rather than fiber-like. MP abundance was positively related to maximum antecedent rainfall in the Bega estuary, however there are no clear environmental factors that could explain MP variation in the other systems. MP were generally higher in summer and following freshwater inflow events. On the Hunter estuary MP abundance was at times as high as zooplankton abundance, and within the range of numbers reported in other highly impacted systems globally. The results confirm that higher levels of human impact lead to greater plastic pollution and highlight the need to examine aquatic ecosystems under a range of conditions in order to adequately characterize the extent of MP pollution in rivers and coastal systems.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/136097