First evidence of microplastics in nine lakes across Patagonia (South America)
Open accessAbstract
Microplastics (MPs) on lakes have been reported mainly from Europe, Asia, and North America. Then, this study aimed to address the quantification and identification of MPs in nine lakes from the Argentine Patagonian Region. Blue colored fibers were dominant, with a size range between 0.2 and <0.4 mm. The mean MPs concentration was 0.9 ± 0.6 MPs m-3, suggesting a low pollution state when compared to other worldwide lakes. Raman microscopy analysis showed a predominance of Indigo Blue Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) particles. The upper-gradient runoff from urban settlements, textiles, and fisheries were identified as the main MPs sources and levels positively correlated with the higher area, shallower depth, and with an end-position in the watershed. These findings fill a gap in the geographical distribution knowledge, setting a baseline that emphasizes the need for better treatment of urban and fisheries wastes in continental lakes.
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Concentrations up to approximately 50 particles/L have been reported in standing waters.
“Concentrations up to approximately 50 particles/L have been reported in standing waters (Alfonso et al., 2020).”
From No Effect of Realistic Concentrations of Polyester Microplastic Fibers on Freshwater Zooplankton Communities (2024) · cites this paper as Alfonso et al., 2020
Section 3.1 reports microplastics in lakes, including a cited concentration of up to 34,000 particles/m³ (34 particles/L) in a Chinese lake. It does not report approximately 50 particles/L; its own Patagonian-lake maximum is 1.9 particles/m³. No page number is available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.85)
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References 52 · Cited by 175
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- Hidalgo-Ruz, V., Gutow, L., Thompson, R.C., Thiel, M., 2012. Microplastics in the marine environment: A review of the methods used for identification and quantification. Environ. Sci. Technol. 46, 3060-3075. https://doi.org/10.1021/es2031505 INDEC Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censo, República Argentina (2010) Censo Nacional de Población, Hogares y Viviendas. https://www.indec.gov.ar/nivel3_default.asp?id_tema_1=2&id_tema_2=41. Accessed 15 April 2019 · DOI
- Scordo, F., Carbone, M.E., Piccolo, M.C., Perillo, G.M.E., 2017. Influencia de Eventos de Humedad y Sequía en Lagos de la Patagonia Argentina: el Caso de los Lagos Musters y Colhué Huapí. Anuário do Inst. Geociências 40, 170-180. https://doi.org/10.11137/2017_3_170_180 · DOI
- Authors
- Alfonso, M. B., Scordo, F., Seitz, C., Mavo Manstretta, G. M., Ronda, A. C., Arias, A. H., Tomba, J. P., Silva, L. I., Perillo, G. M. E., & Piccolo, M. C.
- Affiliations
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (AR)
- University of Nevada, Reno (US)
- Corresponding author
- Alfonso, María Belén
- ORCID
- Venue
- Science of The Total Environment
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2020-09
- Volume
- 733
- Pages
- 139385
- ISSN
- 0048-9697 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3025520811
- Cited by
- 175
- References
- 52
- Citations by year
- 2026: 14 · 2025: 33 · 2024: 37 · 2023: 38 · 2022: 27 · 2021: 20 · 2020: 6
- FWCI
- 5.62
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- The Science of The Total Environment (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Conicet (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Funders
- Universidad Nacional del Sur
- Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Microplastics and Plastic Pollution
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Pharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental Impacts
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Aquatic Ecosystems and Phytoplankton Dynamics
- Keywords
- microplastics, lake pollution, Patagonia, polyethylene terephthalate, microplastic sources, urban runoff, fishery waste, textile waste, micro-Raman spectroscopy, microplastic concentration
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