Preliminary Screening for Microplastic Concentrations in the Surface Water of the Ob and Tom Rivers in Siberia, Russia

Yulia A. Frank, Egor D. Vorobiev, Danil S. Vorobiev, Andrey A. Trifonov, Dmitry V. Antsiferov, Tina Soliman Hunter, Scott P. Wilson and Vladimir Strezov
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Yulia A. Frank: Biological Institute, National Research Tomsk State University, Lenina Ave., 36, 634050 Tomsk, Russia
Egor D. Vorobiev: Biological Institute, National Research Tomsk State University, Lenina Ave., 36, 634050 Tomsk, Russia
Danil S. Vorobiev: Biological Institute, National Research Tomsk State University, Lenina Ave., 36, 634050 Tomsk, Russia
Andrey A. Trifonov: Biological Institute, National Research Tomsk State University, Lenina Ave., 36, 634050 Tomsk, Russia
Dmitry V. Antsiferov: Biological Institute, National Research Tomsk State University, Lenina Ave., 36, 634050 Tomsk, Russia
Tina Soliman Hunter: Macquarie Law School, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
Scott P. Wilson: Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
Vladimir Strezov: Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-14

Abstract: To date, the largest Russian rivers discharging to the Arctic Ocean remain a “blank spot” on the world map of data on the distribution of microplastics in freshwater systems. This study characterizes the abundance and morphology of microplastics in surface water of the Ob River and its large tributary, the Tom River, in western Siberia. The average number of particles for the two rivers ranged from 44.2 to 51.2 items per m 3 or from 79.4 to 87.5 μg per m 3 in the Tom River and in the Ob River, respectively. Of the recovered microplastics, 93.5% were less than 1 mm in their largest dimension, the largest group (45.5% of total counts) consisted of particles with sizes range 0.30–1.00 mm. Generally, microfragments of irregular shape were the most abundant among the Ob and Tom samples (47.4%) and exceeded microfibers (22.1%), microfilms (20.8%), and microspheres (9.74%) by average counts. Results from this study provide a baseline for understanding the scale of the transport of microplastics by the Ob River system into the Arctic Ocean and add to currently available data on microplastics abundance and diversity in freshwater systems of differing global geographic locations.

Keywords: microplastic abundance; microplastic cycle; freshwater; rivers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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