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The Distribution and Characteristics of Microplastics in Coastal Beaches and Mangrove Wetlands

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Microplastics in Terrestrial Environments

Part of the book series: The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry ((HEC,volume 95))

Abstract

Microplastics found in coastal environments can be transported to and accumulate in different coastal environmental media by diverse driving factors and pathways. Increasing numbers of studies indicate that microplastics accumulate in coastal areas with highly intensive human activities. However, there are few discussions on the occurrence of microplastics in coastal sediments and coastal wetlands according to different land utilization patterns. In this chapter we investigate the distribution of shape, size, and abundance of microplastics in northern coastal beach sediments. We found that pellets, foams, fragments, flakes, films, fibers, and sponges occurred in beach sediments with different land utilization patterns. The abundances of microplastics were 344 particles kg−1 in tourist beaches, 1,226 particles kg−1 in beaches adjacent to mariculture areas, 98 particles kg−1 in beaches near fishing ports, and 1,302 particles kg−1 in undeveloped beaches. Foams were dominant in tourist beaches and beaches near fishing ports, while flakes dominated in beaches adjacent to mariculture areas and in undeveloped beaches. The differences are likely due to different anthropogenic influences in coastal zones. We then illustrate the characteristics and spatial distribution of microplastics in different mangrove sediments covering the main mangrove forest growing areas of south China. The abundance of microplastics was 1,302 particles kg−1, and foams and fibers were the dominant shapes in mangrove sediments. The differences in distribution of microplastics in mangrove sediments are related to anthropocentric influences such as mariculture and fisheries and to the density of vegetation. Moreover, different potential sources of microplastic are contributors of microplastic pollution in coastal zones and need to be evaluated. They include land sources and offshore marine sources together with coastal atmospheric deposition. The results contribute to our understanding of microplastic pollution in coastal sediments with different coastal land utilization patterns, and they provide a reference for the management and control of microplastic pollution in coastal environments.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2016YFC1402202), the Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences, CAS (Grant No. QYZDJ-SSW-DQC015), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41771351), the External Cooperation Program of BIC, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. 133337KYSB20160003), and Sino-German initiatives WTZ China in the framework of the MEGAPOL consortium supported by BMBF (Contract No. 03F0786A). We appreciate the contributions of language polishing by Professor Peter Christie from Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Coastal Environmental Processes and Ecological Remediation, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai, China

    Qian Zhou & Haibo Zhang

  2. Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research, Rostock, Germany

    Joanna J. Waniek

  3. Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China

    Yongming Luo

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  1. Qian Zhou
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  2. Haibo Zhang
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  3. Joanna J. Waniek
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  4. Yongming Luo
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Correspondence to Yongming Luo .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China

    Defu He

  2. Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China

    Yongming Luo

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Zhou, Q., Zhang, H., Waniek, J.J., Luo, Y. (2020). The Distribution and Characteristics of Microplastics in Coastal Beaches and Mangrove Wetlands. In: He, D., Luo, Y. (eds) Microplastics in Terrestrial Environments. The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry, vol 95. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/698_2020_459

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