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Rolf M, Laermanns H, Horn J, Kienzler L, Pohl C, Dierkes G, Kernchen S, Laforsch C, Löder MGJ, Bogner C. Multi-method analysis of microplastic distribution by flood frequency and local topography in Rhine floodplains. Sci Total Environ 2024; 927:171927. [PMID: 38556006 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171927] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2023] [Revised: 03/21/2024] [Accepted: 03/21/2024] [Indexed: 04/02/2024]
Abstract
Rivers are important transport pathways for microplastics into the ocean, but they can also be potential sinks due to microplastic deposition in the sediments of the river bed and adjacent floodplains. In particular, floods can (re)mobilise microplastics from sediments and floodplains, (re)deposit and relocate them depending on the floodplain topography. The knowledge about fluvial microplastic input to floodplains, their spatial distribution and their fate in floodplain soils is limited. To investigate this topic, we sampled soil at a depth of 5-20 cm along three transects in three different Rhine floodplains. We analysed the soil samples in tandem with pyrolysis GC/MS and ATR- & μ-FPA-FTIR for their microplastic abundance and mass concentrations. To study the influence of flood frequency on the microplastic abundance in the three floodplains, we fitted a hydrodynamic flood model (MIKE 21, DHI, Hørsholm, Denmark) and related the results to the respective spatial microplastic distribution. We found similar microplastic distribution patterns in each floodplain. The highest microplastic abundance (8516-70,124 microplastics kg-1) and mass concentration (46.2-141.6 mg kg-1) were consistently found in the farthest transects from the Rhine in a topographical depression. This microplastic distribution pattern is detectable with both, pyrolysis GC/MS and FTIR. The strongest correlation between the results of both methods was found for small, abundant microplastic particles. Our results suggest that the spatial distribution of microplastics in floodplains is related to the combination of flood frequency and local topography, that ought to be explicitly considered in future studies conducted in floodplains. Finally, our results indicate that pyrolysis GC/MS and FTIR data are comparable under certain conditions, which may help in the decision for the analytical method and sampling design in future studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Markus Rolf
- Ecosystem Research Group, Institute of Geography, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Cologne, Zülpicher Straße 45, 50674 Cologne, Germany.
| | - Hannes Laermanns
- Ecosystem Research Group, Institute of Geography, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Cologne, Zülpicher Straße 45, 50674 Cologne, Germany
| | - Julia Horn
- Ecosystem Research Group, Institute of Geography, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Cologne, Zülpicher Straße 45, 50674 Cologne, Germany
| | - Lukas Kienzler
- Ecosystem Research Group, Institute of Geography, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Cologne, Zülpicher Straße 45, 50674 Cologne, Germany
| | - Christian Pohl
- Director Business Development D-A-CH, DHI WASY GmbH, Volmerstraße 8, 12489 Berlin, Germany
| | - Georg Dierkes
- German Federal Institute of Hydrology, Koblenz, Germany
| | - Sarmite Kernchen
- Animal Ecology I, BayCEER, University of Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Christian Laforsch
- Animal Ecology I, BayCEER, University of Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Martin G J Löder
- Animal Ecology I, BayCEER, University of Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany.
| | - Christina Bogner
- Ecosystem Research Group, Institute of Geography, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Cologne, Zülpicher Straße 45, 50674 Cologne, Germany.
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Rolf M, Laermanns H, Kienzler L, Pohl C, Möller JN, Laforsch C, Löder MGJ, Bogner C. Corrigendum to "flooding frequency and floodplain topography determine abundance of microplastics in an alluvial Rhine soil" [Sci. Total Environ. 836 (2022) article number 155141]. Sci Total Environ 2023; 904:166393. [PMID: 37690208 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.166393] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/12/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Markus Rolf
- Ecosystem Research Group, Institute of Geography, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Cologne, 50923 Cologne, Germany
| | - Hannes Laermanns
- Ecosystem Research Group, Institute of Geography, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Cologne, 50923 Cologne, Germany
| | - Lukas Kienzler
- Ecosystem Research Group, Institute of Geography, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Cologne, 50923 Cologne, Germany
| | | | - Julia N Möller
- Animal Ecology I, BayCEER, University of Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Christian Laforsch
- Animal Ecology I, BayCEER, University of Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Martin G J Löder
- Animal Ecology I, BayCEER, University of Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany.
| | - Christina Bogner
- Ecosystem Research Group, Institute of Geography, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Cologne, 50923 Cologne, Germany.
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Rolf M, Laermanns H, Kienzler L, Pohl C, Möller JN, Laforsch C, Löder MGJ, Bogner C. Flooding frequency and floodplain topography determine abundance of microplastics in an alluvial Rhine soil. Sci Total Environ 2022; 836:155141. [PMID: 35405226 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155141] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2021] [Revised: 03/20/2022] [Accepted: 04/05/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Rivers are major pathways for the transport of microplastics towards the oceans, and many studies focus on microplastic abundance in fluvial ecosystems. Although flooding strongly affects transport of microplastics, knowledge about the potential input via floodwaters, spatial distribution, and fate of microplastics in adjacent floodplains remains very limited. In this study, we suggest that local topography and flood frequency could influence the abundance of microplastics in floodplains. Based on this concept, we took soil samples in a Rhine River floodplain in two different depths (0-5 cm and 5-20 cm) along three transects with increasing distance to the river and analysed the abundance of microplastics via FTIR spectroscopy. Flood frequency of the transects was estimated by a combination of hydrodynamic modelling with MIKE 21 (DHI, Hørsholm Denmark) and analysis of time series of water levels. Microplastic abundance per kg dry soil varied between 25,502 to 51,119 particles in the top 5 cm and 25,616 to 84,824 particles in the deeper soil (5-20 cm). The results of our study indicate that local topography and resulting flooding patterns are responsible for the amount of microplastics found at the respective transect. Differences in soil properties, vegetation cover and signs of earthworm activity in the soil profile seem to be related to microplastic migration and accumulation in the deeper soil. The interdisciplinary approach we used in our work can be applied to other floodplains to elucidate the respective processes. This information is essentially important both for locating potential microplastic sinks for process-informed sampling designs and to identify areas of increased bioavailability of microplastics for proper ecological risk assessment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Markus Rolf
- Ecosystem Research Group, Institute of Geography, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Cologne, 50923 Cologne, Germany
| | - Hannes Laermanns
- Ecosystem Research Group, Institute of Geography, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Cologne, 50923 Cologne, Germany
| | - Lukas Kienzler
- Ecosystem Research Group, Institute of Geography, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Cologne, 50923 Cologne, Germany
| | | | - Julia N Möller
- Animal Ecology I, BayCEER, University of Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Christian Laforsch
- Animal Ecology I, BayCEER, University of Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Martin G J Löder
- Animal Ecology I, BayCEER, University of Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany.
| | - Christina Bogner
- Ecosystem Research Group, Institute of Geography, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Cologne, 50923 Cologne, Germany.
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