January 2018
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236 Reads
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41 Citations
Environmental Science and Technology
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Publications (2)
October 2017
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5,328 Reads
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1,314 Citations
Environmental Science and Technology
A substantial fraction of marine plastic debris originates from land-based sources and rivers potentially act as a major transport pathway for all sizes of plastic debris. We analyzed a global compilation of data on plastic debris in the water column across a wide range of river sizes. Plastic debris loads, both microplastic (particles <5 mm) and macroplastic (particles >5 mm) are positively related to the mismanaged plastic waste (MMPW) generated in the river catchments. This relationship is nonlinear where large rivers with population-rich catchments delivering a disproportionately higher fraction of MMPW into the sea. The 10 top-ranked rivers transport 88–95% of the global load into the sea. Using MMPW as a predictor we calculate the global plastic debris inputs form rivers into the sea to range between 0.41 and 4 × 10⁶ t/y. Due to the limited amount of data high uncertainties were expected and ultimately confirmed. The empirical analysis to quantify plastic loads in rivers can be extended easily by additional potential predictors other than MMPW, for example, hydrological conditions.
Citations (2)
... MPs are by-products arising from a variety of human activities, including industrial production, agricultural activities, sewage disposal, and the breakdown of plastic materials in the environment, as secondary MPs 6 . Severe MPs contamination in the air, sea, and soil was demonstrated over the past 10 years, primarily concentrated around major urban and industrial areas and it is estimated that close to 5 million tons of plastic debris are discharged yearly into marine environments alone [7][8][9] . Widespread plastic use coupled with inadequate end-of-life disposal resulted in an estimated 22 million tons of plastic materials leaking into the environment in 2019, contributing to persistent and long-term plastic pollution 10 . ...
- Citing Article
January 2018
Environmental Science and Technology
... Models have also been used to trace land-based sources, though typically limited to individual rivers at the freshwater-marine interface (Pojar et al., 2021;Wakkaf et al., 2020;Yu et al., 2022). For example, Schmidt et al. (2017) applied a simplified model assuming full connectivity between river catchments and coastal zones. However, such lumped conceptual models lack explicit hydrological process representation, introducing substantial uncertainty. ...
- Citing Article
October 2017
Environmental Science and Technology