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Abstract
Microplastics are omnipresent in the atmosphere, terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, food and beverages. They may cause risks to biodiversity and the human population. The present study aims to assess the concentrations of microplastics in raw and drinking water of the Sinos River in Southern Brazil. The water was collected at eight locations along the Sinos River and in eight residences supplied with treated river water. The samples were processed by dying plastic particles with Nile Red and counting by fluorescence microscopy. River water showed an average of 330.2 particles L−1 and treated water 105.8 particles L−1. Fibers were the most abundant particles shapes in the samples. Particle abundance in the raw water did not follow the urbanization gradient in the Sinos River basin. The exact pathways of microplastic particles remain unidentified, but the predominance of fibers suggests that untreated sewage from washing machines may be a principal source of contamination, particularly in the headwaters. The microplastic in the drinking water is an additional factor to be considered in conservation efforts aiming at improving water quality in the Sinos River basin.
Highlights
The research interest in plastic contamination has increased in recent years
In general terms particle concentrations of 354 particles L−1 (p L−1) in Sinos River water were within the wide concentration intervals observed in other hydric systems, like the River Rhine, with a mean particle concentration between Basel and Rotterdam of 5.6 p L−1 [34] and 1473 ± 34 to 3605 ± 497 p L−1 in urban rivers of the Czech Republic [35]
Comparisons of plastic particle concentration of raw water with drinking water derived from the same river are scarce
Summary
A quick search in the Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Database [1] using the term “micro plastic” generates 804 hits for the period between 2003 and 2020. A total of 713 (88%) of all articles were published in the last five years between 2015 and 2020. These publications address the quantification of particles suspended in the water column [2], in the sediment [3], in invertebrates [4], in stomach contents of fish [5], and in aquatic bacteria [6]. Many of these studies show that microplastic (MP)
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