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Sustainability
Volume 13
Issue 5
10.3390/su13052691
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Article

Microplastics in Surface Waters and Sediments from Guangdong Coastal Areas, South China

by
Yizheng Li
1,
Yindan Zhang
1,
Guanglong Chen
1,
Kaihang Xu
1,
Han Gong
1,
Kai Huang
2,*,
Muting Yan
1,* and
Jun Wang
1,2,3,*
1
Joint Laboratory of Guangdong Province and Hong Kong Region on Marine Bioresource Conservation and Exploitation, College of Marine Sciences, South China Agricultural Universtiy, Guangzhou 510641, China
2
National Engineering Research Center for Non-Food Biorefinery, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Bio-Refinery, Guangxi Academy of Sciences, 98 Daling Road, Nanning 530007, China
3
Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editors: Marc A. Rosen, Tony Robert Walker and Elena Cristina Rada
Sustainability 2021, 13(5), 2691; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13052691
Received: 4 January 2021 / Revised: 22 February 2021 / Accepted: 22 February 2021 / Published: 2 March 2021
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Abstract

Microplastic is an emerging global pollutant that have attracted a great deal of attention from researchers and the public. Guangdong Province has a large population and a relatively well-developed economy, but lacks a modern pollution control system. Guangdong has a long coastline with varying levels of pollution, and little research has been conducted on microplastics. Therefore, we investigated the level of microplastic pollution in coastal areas of Guangdong Province, and the abundance of microplastics in surface waters and sediments at 13 sampling sites. The abundance of microplastics in surface water and sediment samples ranged from 850 to 3500 items/L and 433.3 to 4166.3 items/kg, respectively. Fiber is the main type of microplastics in both surface water and sediment. The sampled microplastics were typically transparent. Raman results show that the surface water sample mainly includes rayon (38.2%), polyethylene terephthalate (16.4%), and ethylene/vinyl acetate copolymer (12.7%). This study used the pollution load index method to evaluate the pollution risk of microplastics along the coast of Guangdong, and provided the basis for the formulation of environmental policy. View Full-Text
Keywords: Guangdong coastal area; microplastics; water; sediment; anthropogenic activities; risk assessment Guangdong coastal area; microplastics; water; sediment; anthropogenic activities; risk assessment
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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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MDPI and ACS Style

Li, Y.; Zhang, Y.; Chen, G.; Xu, K.; Gong, H.; Huang, K.; Yan, M.; Wang, J. Microplastics in Surface Waters and Sediments from Guangdong Coastal Areas, South China. Sustainability 2021, 13, 2691. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13052691

AMA Style

Li Y, Zhang Y, Chen G, Xu K, Gong H, Huang K, Yan M, Wang J. Microplastics in Surface Waters and Sediments from Guangdong Coastal Areas, South China. Sustainability. 2021; 13(5):2691. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13052691

Chicago/Turabian Style

Li, Yizheng, Yindan Zhang, Guanglong Chen, Kaihang Xu, Han Gong, Kai Huang, Muting Yan, and Jun Wang. 2021. "Microplastics in Surface Waters and Sediments from Guangdong Coastal Areas, South China" Sustainability 13, no. 5: 2691. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13052691

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