Microplastics in sediments from Amazon rivers, Brazil

Cristiano Rezende Gerolin; Fabiano Nascimento Pupim; André Oliveira Sawakuchi; Carlos Henrique Grohmann; Geórgia Labuto; Décio Semensatto

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.141604

Microplastics in sediments from Amazon rivers, Brazil

Sci Total Environ. 2020 Dec 20:749:141604. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.141604. Epub 2020 Aug 10.

Authors

Cristiano Rezende Gerolin¹, Fabiano Nascimento Pupim², André Oliveira Sawakuchi³, Carlos Henrique Grohmann⁴, Geórgia Labuto⁵, Décio Semensatto⁶

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Integrated Sciences (LabInSciences), Universidade Federal de São Paulo (Unifesp), Diadema, SP CEP 09972-270, Brazil.
² Department of Environmental Sciences, Universidade Federal de São Paulo (Unifesp), Diadema, SP CEP 09972-270, Brazil.
³ Instituto de Geociências, Universidade de São Paulo (USP), São Paulo, SP CEP 05508-080, Brazil.
⁴ Instituto de Energia e Ambiente, Universidade de São Paulo (USP), São Paulo, SP CEP 05508-010, Brazil.
⁵ Laboratory of Integrated Sciences (LabInSciences), Universidade Federal de São Paulo (Unifesp), Diadema, SP CEP 09972-270, Brazil; Department of Chemistry, Universidade Federal de São Paulo (Unifesp), Diadema, SP, CEP 09972-270, Brazil.
⁶ Laboratory of Integrated Sciences (LabInSciences), Universidade Federal de São Paulo (Unifesp), Diadema, SP CEP 09972-270, Brazil; Department of Environmental Sciences, Universidade Federal de São Paulo (Unifesp), Diadema, SP CEP 09972-270, Brazil. Electronic address: decio.semensatto@unifesp.br.

PMID: 32829281
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.141604

Abstract

We assessed the concentrations of microplastics in sediment samples collected in seven sites from Solimões, Negro and Amazon rivers, upstream and downstream the metropolitan region of Manaus. Concentrations ranged from 417 to 8178 particles/kg of dried sediment (microplastics: 0.063-5 mm), and from 0 to 5725 particles/kg of dried sediment (microplastics: 0.063-1 mm). The highest microplastics concentrations were observed in samples from shallow water (water depth of 5-7 m) sites with lower water velocity of the Negro river surrounding Manaus, and the lowest concentration in farthest sample collected in deeper zone (water depth of 34 m) of the Amazon river around 110 km downstream Manaus. The variation of microplastics concentrations within the studied area can be related to hydraulic characteristics defining the erosive-depositional behavior of the sampling sites and their proximity to Manaus. Our results represent the first report to show the ubiquitous presence and widespread distribution of microplastics in sediments from the lower Solimões, lower Negro and upper Amazon rivers.

Keywords: Amazon; Microplastics pollution; River sediment.