Abstract
Pollution from microplastics and anthropogenic fibres threatens lakes, but we know little about what factors predict its accumulation. Lakes may be especially contaminated because of long water retention times and proximity to pollution sources. Here, we surveyed anthropogenic microparticles, i.e., microplastics and anthropogenic fibres, in surface waters of 67 European lakes spanning 30° of latitude and large environmental gradients. By collating data from >2,100 published net tows, we found that microparticle concentrations in our field survey were higher than previously reported in lakes and comparable to rivers and oceans. We then related microparticle concentrations in our field survey to surrounding land use, water chemistry, and plastic emissions to sites estimated from local hydrology, population density, and waste production. Microparticle concentrations in European lakes quadrupled as both estimated mismanaged waste inputs and wastewater treatment loads increased in catchments. Concentrations decreased by 2 and 5 times over the range of surrounding forest cover and potential in-lake biodegradation, respectively. As anthropogenic debris continues to pollute the environment, our data will help contextualise future work, and our models can inform control and remediation efforts.
Highlights
Predicting where anthropogenic debris accumulates in aquatic ecosystems is necessary for its control and environmental remediation, but relatively little is known about its distribution outside of the oceans [1,2]
In a subset of 56 microparticles measured with Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, 77% were classed as anthropogenic based on vibrational bands, including fibres, particles, and films
One explanation for the difference in concentrations between published studies and our field survey is that we considered all microparticles, whereas others may have focused only on microplastics
Summary
Predicting where anthropogenic debris accumulates in aquatic ecosystems is necessary for its control and environmental remediation, but relatively little is known about its distribution outside of the oceans [1,2]. Microparticles that come from synthetic (i.e., plastic) polymers and regenerated or processed natural materials used in textiles are concerning for at least two reasons. The small size and wide distribution of microparticles—often defined in surface waters as particles between 300 μm and 5 mm [3]—makes them ingested by microscopic to large animals, posing distinct toxic hazards [4,5,6]. Anthropogenic debris in lakes reflects surrounding land use Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist
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