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   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    Global study details microplastics contamination in lakes and reservoirs   
      
      
     Date:   
         July 12, 2023   
     Source:   
         University of Kansas   
     Summary:   
         A project involving 79 researchers belonging to the international   
         Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network (GLEON) finds that   
         concentrations of plastic found in freshwater environments are   
         actually higher than those found in so-called 'garbage patches'   
         in the ocean.   
      
      
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   Around 14 million tons of plastic end up in the ocean every year. But   
   that is not the only water source where plastic represents a significant   
   intrusion.   
      
   "We found microplastics in every lake we sampled," said Ted Harris,   
   associate research professor for the Kansas Biological Survey & Center   
   for Ecological Research at the University of Kansas.   
      
   "Some of these lakes you think of as clear, beautiful vacation spots. But   
   we discovered such places to be perfect examples of the link between   
   plastics and humans."  Harris is one of 79 researchers belonging to   
   the international Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network (GLEON),   
   which examines processes and phenomena occurring in freshwater   
   environments. Their new paper, titled "Plastic debris in lakes and   
   reservoirs," reveals that concentrations of plastic found in freshwater   
   environments are actually higher than those found in so-called "garbage   
   patches" in the ocean. The article is published in Nature.   
      
   For his role, Harris teamed with Rebecca Kessler, his former student   
   and recent KU graduate, to test two Kansas lakes (Clinton and Perry)   
   and the Cross Reservoir at the KU Field Station.   
      
   "That entailed us going out, tolling a net with tiny little holes in   
   it, dragging it for about two minutes, then collecting those samples   
   of microplastics and sending them off to (the lead researchers),"   
   Kessler said.   
      
   The research project was designed and coordinated by the Inland Water   
   Ecology and Management research group of the University of Milano-Bicocca,   
   Italy (headed by Barbara Leoni and Veronica Nava). The team sampled   
   surface waters of 38 lakes and reservoirs, distributed across gradients   
   of geographical position and limnological attributes. It detected plastic   
   debris in all studied lakes and reservoirs.   
      
   "This paper essentially shows the more humans, the more plastics,"   
   Harris said.   
      
   "Places like Clinton Lake are relatively low in microplastics because --   
   while there are many animals and trees -- there aren't a lot of humans,   
   relative to somewhere like Lake Tahoe where people are living all   
   around it. Some of these lakes are seemingly pristine and beautiful,   
   yet that's where the microplastics come from."  Harris said that many   
   of the plastics are from something as outwardly innocuous as T-shirts.   
      
   "The simple act of people getting in swimming and having clothing that   
   has microplastic fibers in it leads to microplastics getting everywhere,"   
   he said.   
      
   The GLEON study cites two types of water bodies studied that are   
   particularly vulnerable to plastic contamination: lakes and reservoirs in   
   densely populated and urbanized areas; and those with elevated deposition   
   areas, long water retention times and high levels of anthropogenic   
   influence.   
      
   "When we started the study, I didn't know a lot about microplastics   
   versus large plastics," Harris said.   
      
   "When this paper says 'concentrations as much or worse than the garbage   
   patch,' you always think of the big bottles and stuff, but you're not   
   thinking of all that smaller stuff. You don't see a huge garbage patch   
   in Lake Tahoe, yet it's one of the most impacted lakes when it comes to   
   microplastics. Those are plastics you can't really see with the naked eye,   
   and then you get underneath a scope at 40,000x, and you see these little   
   jagged pieces and other particles that are the same size as algae or even   
   smaller."  Part of Harris and Kessler's enthusiasm for taking part in this   
   project was to highlight a region of the U.S. that is often overlooked.   
      
   "In this study, there's one dot in the middle of the country, and that's   
   our sample," he said. "In Iowa, Missouri and Colorado, there's this huge   
   swath of area that has water bodies, but we often don't get them into   
   those massive global studies. So it was really important for me to put   
   Kansas on the map to see and contextualize what these differences are   
   in our lakes."  Harris has worked at KU since 2013, where his research   
   focuses on aquatic ecology. Kessler graduated KU in 2022 with a degree   
   in ecology, evolutionary & organismal biology.   
      
   "The biggest takeaway from our study is that microplastics can be   
   found in all lakes," Kessler said. "Obviously, there are different   
   concentrations. But they are literally everywhere. And the biggest   
   contributing factor to these microplastics is human interaction with   
   the lakes."   
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   Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Kansas. Note: Content   
   may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
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   Journal Reference:   
      1. Veronica Nava, Sudeep Chandra, Julian Aherne, Mari'a B. Alfonso,   
      Ana M.   
      
         Anta~o-Geraldes, Katrin Attermeyer, Roberto Bao, Mireia Bartrons,   
         Stella A. Berger, Marcin Biernaczyk, Raphael Bissen, Justin   
         D. Brookes, David Brown, Miguel Can~edo-Argu"elles, Moise's Canle,   
         Camilla Capelli, Rafael Carballeira, Jose' Luis Cereijo, Sakonvan   
         Chawchai, So/ren T.   
      
         Christensen, Kirsten S. Christoffersen, Elvira de Eyto, Jorge   
         Delgado, Tyler N. Dornan, Jonathan P. Doubek, Julia Dusaucy, Oxana   
         Erina, Zeynep Ersoy, Heidrun Feuchtmayr, Maria Luce Frezzotti,   
         Silvia Galafassi, David Gateuille, Vitor Gonc,alves, Hans-Peter   
         Grossart, David P. Hamilton, Ted D. Harris, Ku"lli Kangur, Go"kben   
         Başaran Kankılıc,, Rebecca Kessler, Christine   
         Kiel, Edward M. Krynak, A`ngels Leiva-Presa, Fabio Lepori,   
         Miguel G. Matias, Shin-ichiro S. Matsuzaki, Yvonne McElarney,   
         Beata Messyasz, Mark Mitchell, Musa C. Mlambo, Samuel N.   
      
         Motitsoe, Sarma Nandini, Valentina Orlandi, Caroline Owens,   
         Deniz O"zkundakci, Solvig Pinnow, Agnieszka Pociecha, Pedro   
         Miguel Raposeiro, Eva-Ingrid Ro~o~m, Federica Rotta, Nico   
         Salmaso, S. S. S. Sarma, Davide Sartirana, Facundo Scordo,   
         Claver Sibomana, Daniel Siewert, Katarzyna Stepanowska, U"lku"   
         Nihan Tavşanoğlu, Maria Tereshina, James Thompson, Monica   
         Tolotti, Amanda Valois, Piet Verburg, Brittany Welsh, Brian Wesolek,   
         Gesa A. Weyhenmeyer, Naicheng Wu, Edyta Zawisza, Lauren Zink,   
         Barbara Leoni. Plastic debris in lakes and reservoirs. Nature,   
         2023; 619 (7969): 317 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06168-4   
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   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/07/230712124616.htm   
      
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