Quantitative analysis of microplastics in coastal tidal-flat reclamation in Dongtai, China

doi:10.1007/s11783-022-1528-5

Front. Environ. Sci. Eng.

2022, Vol. 16

Issue (8) : 107 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-022-1528-5

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Quantitative analysis of microplastics in coastal tidal-flat reclamation in Dongtai, China

Xue Bai^1,²(

), Chang Li¹, Lingyu Ma¹, Pei Xin², Fengjie Li¹, Zhenjia Xu¹

¹. Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resource Development on Shallow Lake of Ministry of Education, College of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
². Yangtze Institute for Conservation and Development, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China

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Abstract

• Reclamation projects are important disturbances on microplastic risk in coasts.

• Tidal-flat reclamation area is a large storage medium for sedimentary microplastics.

• Aging and distribution features of soil microplastics show spatial heterogeneity.

• Coastal weathered engineering geotextiles are a significant threat to marine health.

Coastal tidal flats have received considerable attention in recent years, as they provide a direct channel for the discharge of terrestrial microplastics into the ocean. Land reclamation is occurring increasingly frequently in coastal tidal-flats; however, the environmental impacts of these activities remain unclear. Therefore, this pioneering study assessed the microplastic emission characteristics of reclamation geotextiles and performed a risk assessment accordingly. Morphological characterization of geotextile samples collected from five sites in Dongtai, China, provided evidence of sedimentary weathering. Based on several assumptions, the average abundance of microplastics in soil covered by geotextiles was estimated to reach 349±137 particles/kg dry weight, with the total microplastic load in the reclaimed area estimated to be 20.67±8.06 t. Compared with previous studies, this research demonstrates that coastal reclamation areas store a high concentration of microplastics, aggravating marine microplastic pollution. Moreover, conditional fragmentation model results revealed that the weathering and distribution characteristics of soil microplastics in coastal tidal-flat areas exhibit spatial heterogeneity, being more easily affected by natural factors (such as tides) than those in inland areas. As a result of tides, the annual discharge of geotextile-originating microplastics from the studied areas into the ocean was approximately 2465.52±960.77 t. These findings prove that the risks posed by engineering-microplastics are significant, indicating that further investigations are required on the precise laws of transfer and migration, as well as the toxicity mechanisms, in order to improve analytical techniques and policies in this field.

Keywords Coastal reclamation Engineering geotextiles Soil microplastics Weathering simulation Marine emission

Corresponding Author(s): Xue Bai

About author:

Tongcan Cui and Yizhe Hou contributed equally to this work.

Issue Date: 04 January 2022

Cite this article:

Xue Bai,Chang Li,Lingyu Ma, et al. Quantitative analysis of microplastics in coastal tidal-flat reclamation in Dongtai, China[J]. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng., 2022, 16(8): 107.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/10.1007/s11783-022-1528-5
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/Y2022/V16/I8/107

Tab.1 Spatial location information of sampling sites in Dongtai (China)

Fig.1 Physical morphology of soil microplastics: (A) stereoscopic microscopy images; (B) fluorescence microscopy images.

Fig.2 Quantitative assessment of the morphological characteristics of soil microplastics collected from sampling sites: shape, size and color.

Fig.3 Surface morphology of aged geotextiles: (a) SEM images of geotextiles collected in the reclamation area; (b) the corresponding particle size distribution of surface attached particles.

Fig.4 Abundance and correlational analysis of soil microplastics based on the observed results of stereoscopic microscopy and fluorescence microscopy (p < 0.05).

Fig.5 Weathering simulation of soil microplastics from different sampling sites, including the simulated curves of (a) cumulative percentage and (b) aging rate according to particle sizes.

Tab.2 Simulated modeling parameters applied in this study and comparative modeling parameters from previous studies for various environmental samples

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