Major
Environmental Science
Anticipated Graduation Year
2020
Access Type
Restricted Access
Abstract
Microplastics are an emergent pollutant garnering concern in multiple disciplines. While microplastics can be adsorbed on particles and deposit on the sediment, determining microplastics in sediments remains unstudied. This study determines the abundance of microplastics in the sediments of the Chicago North Branch River and the Des Plaines River in support of understanding potential exposure of microplastics to benthic organisms. Sediment samples were collected from locations varying in surrounding population and urbanization. Due to the campus closure, only sediment samples collected two sites (DB and DC) of the Des Plaines River were analyzed for microplastics. The average concentration of site DB and DC was 33.3 and 77.5 particles/kg sediment, respectively. These concentrations were high compared to literature concentrations of microplastics in the water column. The results of these samples indicate that microplastics are abundant in urban river sediment, and pose a potential exposure to benthic communities.
Faculty Mentors & Instructors
Tham Hoang
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Determination of Microplastics in the Sediment of Chicago and Des Plaines River
Microplastics are an emergent pollutant garnering concern in multiple disciplines. While microplastics can be adsorbed on particles and deposit on the sediment, determining microplastics in sediments remains unstudied. This study determines the abundance of microplastics in the sediments of the Chicago North Branch River and the Des Plaines River in support of understanding potential exposure of microplastics to benthic organisms. Sediment samples were collected from locations varying in surrounding population and urbanization. Due to the campus closure, only sediment samples collected two sites (DB and DC) of the Des Plaines River were analyzed for microplastics. The average concentration of site DB and DC was 33.3 and 77.5 particles/kg sediment, respectively. These concentrations were high compared to literature concentrations of microplastics in the water column. The results of these samples indicate that microplastics are abundant in urban river sediment, and pose a potential exposure to benthic communities.