Water transfer projects and microplastics: Analyzing changes in lake environments with a focus on Wabu Lake, China

Bingyu Chen; Qian Wang; Zhimin Wang; Sanqing Han; Junjie Li; Xingmei Zhuang; Yuan Liu; Long Chen; Shuguang Zhu; Fazhi Xie

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174637

Water transfer projects and microplastics: Analyzing changes in lake environments with a focus on Wabu Lake, China

Sci Total Environ. 2024 Oct 15:947:174637. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174637. Epub 2024 Jul 8.

Authors

Bingyu Chen¹, Qian Wang², Zhimin Wang², Sanqing Han³, Junjie Li³, Xingmei Zhuang³, Yuan Liu⁴, Long Chen², Shuguang Zhu², Fazhi Xie²

Affiliations

¹ School of Environment and Energy Engineering, Anhui Jianzhu University, Hefei 230601, China; Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, Anhui Jianzhu University, Hefei 230601, China. Electronic address: bychen@ustc.edu.cn.
² School of Environment and Energy Engineering, Anhui Jianzhu University, Hefei 230601, China; Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, Anhui Jianzhu University, Hefei 230601, China.
³ School of Environment and Energy Engineering, Anhui Jianzhu University, Hefei 230601, China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Marine Pollution, City University of Hong Kong, 999077, Hong Kong.

PMID: 38986692
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174637

Abstract

Microplastics are widespread in freshwaters, yet their interaction with navigational structures remains unclear. This study compared the distribution and characteristics of microplastics before and after navigation in Wabu Lake. Microplastic concentrations decreased significantly in both surface water and sediment due to navigation opened, from 13.7 ± 6.56 to 3.12 ± 1.8 p L^-1 (p < 0.001) and from 568 ± 286 to 174 ± 60.2 p kg^-1 (p < 0.001), respectively. Acrylates copolymer was frequently detected in surface water and sediment before navigation, whereas the dominant polymer after navigation was chlorinated polyisoprene in surface water and chlorinated polyethylene in sediment. The results showed that three-years dredging induced relatively severe microplastic pollution before navigation, however, these microplastics were apparently eliminated after navigation, as the distribution and characteristics of microplastics thoroughly varied. This study provides a valuable finding that microplastic transport process can be facilitated by water transfer project, which should be considered for preventing microplastic pollution.

Keywords: Lake; Microplastic; Sediment; Surface water; Water transfer project.