Quantification and composition of microplastics in the Raritan Hudson Estuary: Comparison to pathways of entry and implications for fate

Abstract

Comprehensive approaches are needed to understand accumulation patterns and the relative importance of pathways of entry for microplastics in the marine environment. Here, a highly urbanized estuarine environment was sampled along a salinity gradient from the mouth of the Raritan River, (New Jersey, USA) and into the Raritan Bay and the coastal ocean which are further influenced by discharge from the larger Hudson River. Polymers were characterized in two size classes by FTIR and/or Raman spectroscopy. The highest concentration of 500–2000 μm microplastic particles were observed in the mouth of the Raritan during summer low flow conditions, whereas the 250–500 μm microplastic particles were more prevalent in the bay and coastal ocean samples. These results were interpreted using fragmentation and mixing models to provide insight into the sources and fate of microplastics in this estuarine/coastal region. To investigate the potential pathways of entry into the system, samples were collected from various hydraulically connected storm water outfalls and the influent and effluent of wastewater treatment plants and polymer concentrations and types were compared to the estuarine samples. The concentrations of microplastics (500–2000 μm) ranged from 400 to 600 microplastics/m3 in storm water compared to <1–2.75 microplastics/m3 across the estuary. Of interest for analysis is the observed linear correlation between the total concentration of particles in a sample following oxidation and density separation and its microplastic concentration. Overall, the results presented reveal potentially important sources of microplastics in the estuarine environment and have implications for understanding the behavior, transport, and fate of microplastics under varying flow conditions and from estuaries with variable flushing times.