Plastic litter is a part of the carbon cycle in an urban river: Microplastic and macroplastic accumulate with organic matter in floating debris rafts

被引：3

作者：

Hoellein, Timothy J. ^{[1
]}

Schwenk, Bailey A. ^{[1
]}

Kazmierczak, Elizabeth M. ^{[1
]}

Petersen, Fritz ^{[1
,2
]}

机构：

[1] Loyola Univ Chicago, Dept Biol, 1032 West Sheridan Rd, Chicago, IL 60660 USA

[2] Case Western Reserve Univ, Cleveland, OH USA

来源：

WATER ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH | 2024年 / 96卷 / 09期

基金：

美国国家科学基金会;

关键词：

anthropogenic litter; carbon cycle; debris rafts; macroplastics; microplastics; water pollution; ECOSYSTEM; SCALE;

D O I：

10.1002/wer.11116

中图分类号：

X [环境科学、安全科学];

学科分类号：

08 ; 0830 ;

摘要：

Watershed models of plastic export from rivers to oceans have large uncertainties, and improvements require direct measurements of riverine macroplastic (>5 mm) and microplastic (<5 mm). Also, plastic represents allochthonous carbon inputs to rivers but is rarely measured as carbon mass. We quantified plastic and organic matter within floating debris rafts and open water in an urban river. Macroplastics only occurred in debris rafts. Microplastics had higher concentrations in debris rafts relative to open water. Across sites, organic matter was positively correlated with microplastics and macroplastics. Last, carbon in plastic was 40% of the carbon mass in coarse particulate organic matter in debris rafts. Floating plastic litter accumulates with particulate organic matter in debris rafts. Plastic is an overlooked and ecological meaningful component of carbon standing stocks in urban rivers. Results will inform improved carbon budget calculation in rivers and watershed models of plastic export.

引用

页数：14