Microplastic Pollution in Freshwater Environment in China and Watershed Management Strategy

Authors

WU Chenxi, State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China
PAN Xiangliang, College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China
SHI Huahong, State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
PENG Jinping, Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Light Industry, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China

Keywords

microplastic pollution; freshwater; transport and transformation; ecological environment effect; management strategy

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Microplastic pollution problems in freshwater environment have attracted growing attention from scholars at home and abroad. This work reviewed the research progress on microplastics in freshwater environment in China, analyzed the sources, environmental behavior and fate of microplastics in freshwater environment, and discussed the ecological environment effect of microplastic pollution. Studies showed that microplastic pollution is ubiquitously presented in rivers and lake in China. Microplastics have been detected with abundances up to 10 ⁷ items/km ² in freshwater, which is higher than those reported from marine environment. Microplastics detected in the freshwater environment showed different shape, size, and color features, are made from different polymer types, and are able to carry other contaminants. These features partly reflect the source and experience of microplastics, and are related to their environmental behavior and ecological environment effect. Research has also demonstrated that microplastics are commonly presented in fishes and mollusks collected from freshwater environment, microplastic exposure is able to affect the health of individual organisms as well as alter the structure and function of ecosystem. Therefore, microplastics are considered as emerging contaminants. In view of the microplastic pollution status and problem in freshwater environment, microplastic pollution control strategies were proposed based on watershed management thought. It is suggested that China should further improve the relevant policies and regulations, strengthen the implementation of policies and regulations, so as to ensure the health of freshwater ecosystem and the sustainable use of freshwater resources.

First page

1012

Last Page

1020

Language

Chinese

Publisher

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences

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Recommended Citation

Chenxi, WU; Xiangliang, PAN; Huahong, SHI; and Jinping, PENG (2018) "Microplastic Pollution in Freshwater Environment in China and Watershed Management Strategy," Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version): Vol. 33 : Iss. 10 , Article 2.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.16418/j.issn.1000-3045.2018.10.002
Available at: https://bulletinofcas.researchcommons.org/journal/vol33/iss10/2