Sinks and sources: assessing microplastic abundance in river sediment and deposit feeders in an austral temperate urban river system
Abstract
Microplastics are important novel pollutants in freshwaters but their behaviour in river sediments is poorly understood due to the large amounts of coloured dissolved organic matter that impede sample processing. The present study aimed to 1.) estimate the microplastic pollution dynamics in an urban river system experiencing temporal differences in river flow, and 2.) investigate the potential use of chironomids as indicators of microplastic pollution levels in degraded freshwater environments. Microplastic levels were estimated from sediment and Chironomus spp. larvae collected from various sites along the Bloukrans River system, in the Eastern Cape South Africa during the summer and winter season. River flow, water depth, channel width, substrate embeddedness and sediment organic matter were simultaneously collected from each site. The winter season was characterised by elevated microplastic abundances, likely as a result of lower energy and increased sediment deposition associated with reduced river flow. In addition, results showed that particle distribution may be governed by various other external factors, such as substrate type and sediment organic matter. The study further highlighted that deposit feeders associated with the benthic river habitats, namely Chironomus spp. ingest microplastics and that the seasonal differences in sediment microplastic dynamics were reflected in chironomid microplastic abundance. There was a positive, though weakly significant relationship between deposit feeders and sediment suggesting that deposit feeders such as Chironomus spp. larvae could serve as an important indicator of microplastic loads within freshwater ecosystems.
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Molluscs and freshwater benthic crustaceans may be exposed to high levels of MPs in sediments.
“as these groups of organisms may be exposed to high levels of MPs in sediments (Nel et al., 2018).”
From Studies of the Effects of Microplastics on Aquatic Organisms: What Do We Know and Where Should We Focus Our Efforts in the Future? (2018) · cites this paper as Nel et al., 2018
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- Authors
- Nel, H. A., Dalu, T., & Wasserman, R. J.
- Affiliations
- Rhodes University (ZA)
- Monash University Malaysia (MY)
- Corresponding author
- Nel, Holly A.
- Venue
- Science of The Total Environment
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2018-01
- Volume
- 612
- Pages
- 950-956
- ISSN
- 0048-9697 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2752665592
- Cited by
- 490
- References
- 59
- Citations by year
- 2026: 24 · 2025: 59 · 2024: 66 · 2023: 74 · 2022: 70 · 2021: 62 · 2020: 69 · 2019: 37 · 2018: 20 · 2017: 7
- FWCI
- 16.38
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Science of The Total Environment (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Research Foundation of South Africa (88414, 88746)
- Rhodes University Grant
- Claude Leon Postdoctoral Research Fellowship
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Microplastics and Plastic Pollution
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Pharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental Impacts
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Freshwater macroinvertebrate diversity and ecology
- Keywords
- microplastics, river sediments, deposit feeders, Chironomus larvae, bioindicators, urban rivers, seasonal variation, river discharge, sediment organic matter, substrate type, freshwater pollution
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Chironomidae, Cities, Environmental Monitoring, Plastics, South Africa, Water Pollutants, Chemical, Geologic Sediments, Rivers
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