Microplastics in the surface water of Wuliangsuhai Lake, northern China

Ruofan Mao; Yuanyuan Hu; Shuaiya Zhang; Renren Wu; Xuetao Guo

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137820

Microplastics in the surface water of Wuliangsuhai Lake, northern China

Sci Total Environ. 2020 Jun 25:723:137820. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137820. Epub 2020 Mar 9.

Authors

Ruofan Mao¹, Yuanyuan Hu², Shuaiya Zhang², Renren Wu³, Xuetao Guo⁴

Affiliations

¹ College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China; Key Laboratory of Plant Nutrition and the Agro-environment in Northwest China, Ministry of Agriculture, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China.
² College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China.
³ State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Water Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, South China Institute of Environmental Sciences, MEE, Guangzhou 510655, China. Electronic address: wurenren@scies.org.
⁴ College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China; Key Laboratory of Plant Nutrition and the Agro-environment in Northwest China, Ministry of Agriculture, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China. Electronic address: guoxuetao2005@nwafu.edu.cn.

PMID: 32203797
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137820

Abstract

As a new type of pollutant, microplastics have attracted increased attention because of their widespread and persistent existence in the water environment. In this study, we investigated one of the eight largest lakes in China-Wuliangsuhai Lake in Inner Mongolia. The microplastic concentration in Wuliangsuhai Lake ranges from 3.12 to 11.25 n/L. The different functional areas in Wuliangsuhai can be divided into four categories, namely effluent, fishing, intake and wetland areas. The highest microplastic concentration occurs in the intake area. The collected microplastics are divided into four types, i.e., fibers, pellets, fragments and films, of which fibers are the most abundant. Among the four functional areas of Wuliangsuhai Lake, the highest fiber concentration is observed in the fishing area. The microplastics in Wuliangsuhai Lake are mainly small size, and the microplastics smaller than 2 mm account for 98.2% of the total microplastics, while the microplastic size in the intake area is relatively large. Polystyrene and polyethylene are the main polymer types. Agricultural wastewater, domestic sewage and fishery discharge have the greatest impact on the microplastic distribution. This study reveals that the inland lakes in northern China are polluted by microplastics, which may cause potential harm to the surrounding environment.

Keywords: Abundance; Microplastics; Surface water; Wuliangsuhai Lake.