Microplastics in surface waters of the Wei River, China

^a College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100, China
^b College of Marine Life science, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100, China

^* Corresponding author. Tel/Fax: +86 532 82031809. chengang@ouc.edu.cn (G. Chen), College of Marine Life science, Ocean University of China, No. 5, Yu Shan Road, Qingdao, Shandong Province 266003, China; Tel/Fax: +86 532 66786381. E-mail address: hhu@ouc.edu.cn (H. Hu), College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, No.238, Song Ling Road, Qingdao, Shandong Province 266100, China
^* Corresponding author: chengang@ouc.edu.cn (G. Chen), hhu@ouc.edu.cn (H. Hu)

Abstract

Microplastics are a new type of persistent organic pollutants, usually on the micron scale. In this study, we investigated the abundance, distribution, and other characterization of microplastics in surface waters of the Wei River Basin in the Shandong peninsula. The results showed that the abundance of microplastics in the surface water of Wei River varied from 0.40 to 1.20 items/L, and the average abundance was 0.81 items/L, which was at a moderate pollution level compared with other rivers. It was found that the abundance of microplastics was higher in densely populated areas, and hydrodynamic conditions such as river inflow and seawater scour also affected the abundance of microplastics. Fiber (83.4%) was the dominant type. Colorless (93.6%) was the dominant color type. The particle size (0.06 - 0.5mm) (47.9%) was the main size of microplastics in the Wei River. This study provides data for the further study of microplastics in rivers and provides a warning for the management and prevention of microplastics in freshwater.