A Methodology to Characterize Riverine Macroplastic Emission Into the Ocean
Land-based macroplastic is considered one of the major sources of marine plastic debris. However, estimations of plastic emission from rivers into the oceans remain scarce and uncertain, mainly due to a severe lack of standardized observations. To properly assess global plastic fluxes, detailed info...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2018-10-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Marine Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2018.00372/full |
| _version_ | 1818996305318379520 |
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| author | Tim van Emmerik Thuy-Chung Kieu-Le Thuy-Chung Kieu-Le Michelle Loozen Kees van Oeveren Emilie Strady Emilie Strady Xuan-Thanh Bui Matthias Egger Johnny Gasperi Laurent Lebreton Laurent Lebreton Phuoc-Dan Nguyen Phuoc-Dan Nguyen Anna Schwarz Boyan Slat Bruno Tassin |
| author_facet | Tim van Emmerik Thuy-Chung Kieu-Le Thuy-Chung Kieu-Le Michelle Loozen Kees van Oeveren Emilie Strady Emilie Strady Xuan-Thanh Bui Matthias Egger Johnny Gasperi Laurent Lebreton Laurent Lebreton Phuoc-Dan Nguyen Phuoc-Dan Nguyen Anna Schwarz Boyan Slat Bruno Tassin |
| author_sort | Tim van Emmerik |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Land-based macroplastic is considered one of the major sources of marine plastic debris. However, estimations of plastic emission from rivers into the oceans remain scarce and uncertain, mainly due to a severe lack of standardized observations. To properly assess global plastic fluxes, detailed information on spatiotemporal variation in river plastic quantities and composition are urgently needed. In this paper, we present a new methodology to characterize riverine macroplastic dynamics. The proposed methodology was applied to estimate the plastic emission from the Saigon River, Vietnam. During a 2-week period, hourly cross-sectional profiles of plastic transport were made across the river width. Simultaneously, sub-hourly samples were taken to determine the weight, size and composition of riverine macroplastics (>5 cm). Finally, extrapolation of the observations based on available hydrological data yielded new estimates of daily, monthly and annual macroplastic emission into the ocean. Our results suggest that plastic emissions from the Saigon River are up to four times higher than previously estimated. Importantly, our flexible methodology can be adapted to local hydrological circumstances and data availability, thus enabling a consistent characterization of macroplastic dynamics in rivers worldwide. Such data will provide crucial knowledge for the optimization of future mediation and recycling efforts. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T21:27:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c63d3f09e6894f359c88ae4083afc722 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-7745 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T21:27:38Z |
| publishDate | 2018-10-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Marine Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-c63d3f09e6894f359c88ae4083afc7222022-12-21T19:26:08ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Marine Science2296-77452018-10-01510.3389/fmars.2018.00372409981A Methodology to Characterize Riverine Macroplastic Emission Into the OceanTim van Emmerik0Thuy-Chung Kieu-Le1Thuy-Chung Kieu-Le2Michelle Loozen3Kees van Oeveren4Emilie Strady5Emilie Strady6Xuan-Thanh Bui7Matthias Egger8Johnny Gasperi9Laurent Lebreton10Laurent Lebreton11Phuoc-Dan Nguyen12Phuoc-Dan Nguyen13Anna Schwarz14Boyan Slat15Bruno Tassin16The Ocean Cleanup, Rotterdam, NetherlandsCARE, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Ho Chi Minh City, VietnamFaculty of Geology and Petroleum Engineering, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Ho Chi Minh City, VietnamThe Ocean Cleanup, Rotterdam, NetherlandsThe Ocean Cleanup, Rotterdam, NetherlandsCARE, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Ho Chi Minh City, VietnamCNRS, IRD, Grenoble INP, IGE, University of Grenoble Alpes, Saint-Martin-d’Hères, FranceFaculty of Environment and Natural Resources, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Ho Chi Minh City, VietnamThe Ocean Cleanup, Rotterdam, NetherlandsLaboratoire Eau, Environnement, Systèmes Urbains (LEESU) - UMR-MA 102 – UPEC-ENPC-AgroParisTech, Université Paris-Est, Créteil, FranceThe Ocean Cleanup, Rotterdam, NetherlandsThe Modelling House Limited, Raglan, New ZealandCARE, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Ho Chi Minh City, VietnamFaculty of Environment and Natural Resources, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Ho Chi Minh City, VietnamThe Ocean Cleanup, Rotterdam, NetherlandsThe Ocean Cleanup, Rotterdam, NetherlandsLaboratoire Eau, Environnement, Systèmes Urbains (LEESU) - UMR-MA 102 – UPEC-ENPC-AgroParisTech, Université Paris-Est, Créteil, FranceLand-based macroplastic is considered one of the major sources of marine plastic debris. However, estimations of plastic emission from rivers into the oceans remain scarce and uncertain, mainly due to a severe lack of standardized observations. To properly assess global plastic fluxes, detailed information on spatiotemporal variation in river plastic quantities and composition are urgently needed. In this paper, we present a new methodology to characterize riverine macroplastic dynamics. The proposed methodology was applied to estimate the plastic emission from the Saigon River, Vietnam. During a 2-week period, hourly cross-sectional profiles of plastic transport were made across the river width. Simultaneously, sub-hourly samples were taken to determine the weight, size and composition of riverine macroplastics (>5 cm). Finally, extrapolation of the observations based on available hydrological data yielded new estimates of daily, monthly and annual macroplastic emission into the ocean. Our results suggest that plastic emissions from the Saigon River are up to four times higher than previously estimated. Importantly, our flexible methodology can be adapted to local hydrological circumstances and data availability, thus enabling a consistent characterization of macroplastic dynamics in rivers worldwide. Such data will provide crucial knowledge for the optimization of future mediation and recycling efforts.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2018.00372/fullplasticpollutionhydrologyriversmacroplasticVietnam |
| spellingShingle | Tim van Emmerik Thuy-Chung Kieu-Le Thuy-Chung Kieu-Le Michelle Loozen Kees van Oeveren Emilie Strady Emilie Strady Xuan-Thanh Bui Matthias Egger Johnny Gasperi Laurent Lebreton Laurent Lebreton Phuoc-Dan Nguyen Phuoc-Dan Nguyen Anna Schwarz Boyan Slat Bruno Tassin A Methodology to Characterize Riverine Macroplastic Emission Into the Ocean Frontiers in Marine Science plastic pollution hydrology rivers macroplastic Vietnam |
| title | A Methodology to Characterize Riverine Macroplastic Emission Into the Ocean |
| title_full | A Methodology to Characterize Riverine Macroplastic Emission Into the Ocean |
| title_fullStr | A Methodology to Characterize Riverine Macroplastic Emission Into the Ocean |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Methodology to Characterize Riverine Macroplastic Emission Into the Ocean |
| title_short | A Methodology to Characterize Riverine Macroplastic Emission Into the Ocean |
| title_sort | methodology to characterize riverine macroplastic emission into the ocean |
| topic | plastic pollution hydrology rivers macroplastic Vietnam |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2018.00372/full |
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