Modeling the Fate and Transport of Plastic Debris in Freshwaters: Review and Guidance
01 Jan 2018-Vol. 58, pp 125-152
TL;DR: A review of the present knowledge with respect to fate and transport modeling of plastic debris in freshwater catchment areas, focusing especially on nano-and microplastics, is provided in this paper.
Abstract: Contamination with plastic debris has been recognized as one of today’s major environmental quality problems. Because most of the sources are land based, concerns are increasingly focused on the freshwater and terrestrial environment. Fate and transport models for plastic debris can complement information from measurements and will play an important role in the prospective risk assessment of plastic debris. We review the present knowledge with respect to fate and transport modeling of plastic debris in freshwater catchment areas, focusing especially on nano- and microplastics. Starting with a brief overview of theory and models for nonplastic particles, we discuss plastic-specific properties, processes, and existing mass-balance-, multimedia-, and spatiotemporally explicit fate models. We find that generally many theoretical and conceptual approaches from models developed earlier for other types of (low density) particles apply also to plastic debris. A unique feature of plastic debris, however, is its combination of high persistence, low density, and extremely wide size distribution, ranging from the nanometer to the >cm scale. This causes the system behavior of plastic debris to show a far wider variety than most other materials or chemicals. We provide recommendations for further development of these models and implications and guidance for how fate and transport models can be used in a framework for the tiered risk assessment of plastic debris.
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TL;DR: This review will highlight key future research areas for scientists and policymakers, and increase overall understanding of soil MPs pollution and its potential environmental impacts.
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TL;DR: It is argued that a large fraction of plastic waste accumulates here, as only thick-walled, larger plastic debris from low-density polymers are transported through currents from rivers to ocean, while the larger fraction is likely retained in sediments or beaches.
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TL;DR: A broad review of current knowledge on occurrence, measurement, modeling approaches, fate, expos... is provided in this article, where the authors provide a broad review on occurrence and measurement of NMPs.
Abstract: Diverse effects of nano- and microplastic (NMP) have been demonstrated in the laboratory. We provide a broad review of current knowledge on occurrence, measurement, modeling approaches, fate, expos...
277 citations
Cites background from "Modeling the Fate and Transport of ..."
...The in-between fraction, at intermediate depth, is thought to remain there due to the opposing mechanisms of fouling and buoyancy (Kooi et al., 2017)....
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...…nanoplastic at different scales, ranging from single river catchments (Besseling et al., 2017; Nizzetto, Bussi, Futter, Butterfield, & Whitehead, 2016) to the global scale (Kooi et al., 2017; Lebreton et al., 2017; Schmidt, Krauth, & Wagner, 2017; Siegfried, Koelmans, Besseling, & Kroeze, 2017)....
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...Processes that affect the fate of plastic particles in the aquatic environment, adapted from Kooi et al. (2017)....
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TL;DR: In this paper, passive-samplers were placed near highly frequented roads in industrial, agricultural, and urban environments with the aim of collecting and characterizing super-coarse (> 10 µm) airborne particles.
Abstract: Traffic-related non-exhaust particulate matter mainly consists of tire wear, brake wear, and road wear. For this study, passive-samplers were placed near highly frequented roads in industrial, agricultural, and urban environments with the aim of collecting and characterizing super-coarse (> 10 µm) airborne particles. Single-particle analysis using SEM-EDX was conducted on more than 500 particles with nearly 1500 spectra to determine their size, shape, volume, and chemical composition. The ambient aerosol near all studied roads is dominated by traffic-related abrasion particles, amounting to approximately 90 vol%. The majority of the particles were composites of tire-, road-, and brake-abrasion material. The particle assemblages differed in size distribution, composition, and structure depending on driving speed, traffic flow, and traffic fleet. Our study documents that tire wear significantly contributes to the flux of microplastics into the environment. A decrease in the release of this abrasion material, however, is unlikely in the near future.
269 citations
TL;DR: The results indicate that although the risks of environmentally realistic concentrations of microplastics may be low, they still may affect the biodiversity and the functioning of aquatic communities which after all also depend on the sensitive species.
Abstract: Now that microplastics have been detected in lakes, rivers, and estuaries all over the globe, evaluating their effects on biota has become an urgent research priority. This is the first study that aims at determining the effect thresholds for a battery of six freshwater benthic macroinvertebrates with different species traits, using a wide range of microplastic concentrations. Standardized 28 days single species bioassays were performed under environmentally relevant exposure conditions using polystyrene microplastics (20–500 μm) mixed with sediment at concentrations ranging from 0 to 40% sediment dry weight (dw). Microplastics caused no effects on the survival of Gammarus pulex, Hyalella azteca, Asellus aquaticus, Sphaerium corneum, and Tubifex spp. and no effects were found on the reproduction of Lumbriculus variegatus. No significant differences in growth were found for H. azteca, A. aquaticus, S. corneum, L. variegatus, and Tubifex spp. However, G. pulex showed a significant reduction in growth (EC10 ...
229 citations
References
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TL;DR: This work combines available data on solid waste with a model that uses population density and economic status to estimate the amount of land-based plastic waste entering the ocean, which is estimated to be 275 million metric tons.
Abstract: Plastic debris in the marine environment is widely documented, but the quantity of plastic entering the ocean from waste generated on land is unknown. By linking worldwide data on solid waste, population density, and economic status, we estimated the mass of land-based plastic waste entering the ocean. We calculate that 275 million metric tons (MT) of plastic waste was generated in 192 coastal countries in 2010, with 4.8 to 12.7 million MT entering the ocean. Population size and the quality of waste management systems largely determine which countries contribute the greatest mass of uncaptured waste available to become plastic marine debris. Without waste management infrastructure improvements, the cumulative quantity of plastic waste available to enter the ocean from land is predicted to increase by an order of magnitude by 2025.
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"Modeling the Fate and Transport of ..." refers background in this paper
...It can be expected that the composition of plastic in rivers is related to the production volumes of the different polymers, of which polyethylene (38%), polypropylene (24%), PVC (19%), and polystyrene (6%) are produced most [1]....
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...Fragmentation is caused by photodegradation, thermo-oxidation, hydrolysis, physical abrasion, and/or biodegradation [1, 88]....
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"Modeling the Fate and Transport of ..." refers background in this paper
...This process however is very slow in nature [87] and probably much slower than the typical residence times of plastic in rivers....
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31 Oct 2012
TL;DR: In this paper, the concept of Fickian Diffusion and Turbulent Diffusion is used for mixing in rivers and estuaries, and an estimate for the density of seawater is given.
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3,516 citations
"Modeling the Fate and Transport of ..." refers background in this paper
...Dispersion is multidirectional, as it covers the distribution of all flow directions and velocities [48]....
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