Impact of persistent rain on microplastics distribution and plastisphere community: A field study in the Pearl River, China

Jiayan Wu; Quanyun Ye; Leiye Sun; Jieyu Liu; Minye Huang; Tianming Wang; Pingxiao Wu; Nengwu Zhu

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163066

Impact of persistent rain on microplastics distribution and plastisphere community: A field study in the Pearl River, China

Sci Total Environ. 2023 Jun 25:879:163066. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163066. Epub 2023 Mar 31.

Authors

Jiayan Wu¹, Quanyun Ye², Leiye Sun¹, Jieyu Liu¹, Minye Huang¹, Tianming Wang¹, Pingxiao Wu³, Nengwu Zhu¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Environment and Energy, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Centre, Guangzhou 510006, PR China.
² Guangdong Engineering & Technology Research Center for System Control of Livestock and Poultry Breeding Pollution, South China Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Guangzhou 510655, China.
³ School of Environment and Energy, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Centre, Guangzhou 510006, PR China; The Key Lab of Pollution Control and Ecosystem Restoration in Industry Clusters, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou 510006, PR China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Solid Wastes Pollution Control and Recycling, Guangzhou 510006, PR China. Electronic address: pppxwu@scut.edu.cn.

PMID: 37004292
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163066

Abstract

Microplastic contamination is a global problem which has been threatening human health and the environment. There is still a knowledge gap about the effect of persistent rain on microplastics distribution and plastisphere community in fluvial environments. In this study, the abundance and composition of microplastics in the sediment and surface water from the Pearl River was investigated. Thirty polymers (10-500 μm) were identified from thirty-eight samples collected at ten sites using the newly developed laser direct infrared (LDIR) technique. The average concentrations of microplastics in the sediment and surface water were 1974 particles kg^-1 and 290 particles L^-1, respectively. Abnormally high concentrations of polyurethanes (PU) were possibly due to particulate pollution from ship antifouling. The persistent rain increased the abundance and diversity of microplastics in the surface water, whereas an opposite trend was observed in the sediment. Sediments could temporarily switch from microplastics sinks to potential sources under the effect of violent hydrodynamic disturbances. Additionally, plastisphere communities and predicted functional profiles indicated significant differences before and after the rain. Our study highlights the important impact of persistent rain on microplastic contamination in the environment.

Keywords: Laser direct infrared; Microplastics; Pearl River; Plastisphere; Rain.