Microplastic pollution in the rivers of the Tibet Plateau

• Published in: Environmental pollution (1987) Vol. 249; pp. 91 - 98
• Main Authors: Jiang, Changbo, Yin, Lingshi, Li, Zhiwei, Wen, Xiaofeng, Luo, Xin, Hu, Shuping, Yang, Hanyuan, Long, Yuannan, Deng, Bin, Huang, Lingzhi, Liu, Yizhuang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.06.2019
• Subjects: chemical composition; China; Microplastics; pollution; polyamides; polyethylene; polyethylene terephthalates; polypropylenes; polystyrenes; Raman spectroscopy; rivers; Sediment; sediments; stainless steel; Surface water; The Tibet plateau; China; Microplastics; The Tibet plateau; Sediment; Surface water
• ISSN: 0269-7491; 1873-6424; 1873-6424
• DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2019.03.022

The Tibet Plateau, the so-called Third Pole of the world, is home to the headstreams of many great rivers. The levels of microplastic pollution in those rivers, however, are unknown. In this study, surface water and sediment samples were collected from six sampling sites along five different rivers. The surface water and sediment samples were collected with a large flow sampler and a stainless steel shovel, respectively. The abundance of microplastics ranged from 483 to 967 items/m3 in the surface water and from 50 to 195 items/kg in the sediment. A large amount of small, fibrous, transparent microplastics were found in this study. Five types of microplastics with different chemical compositions were identified using micro-Raman spectroscopy: polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), and polyamide (PA). These results demonstrate that rivers in the Tibet Plateau have been contaminated by microplastics, not only in developed areas with intense human activity but also in remote areas, where microplastic pollution requires further attention. [Display omitted] •Microplastics in rivers on Tibet Plateau were studied for the first time.•Fibers were dominated the collected microplastics.•Human activities in Tibet Plateau is an important source of microplastics.•PET and PE were the major components in collected microplastics. The presence of microplastics was detected in the rivers of the Tibet Plateau.