Riverine microplastic discharge along the southern Black Sea coast of Türkiye
Rivers are critical pathways of microplastic (MP) pollution to marine environments, yet their contributions to the Black Sea remain understudied. This study evaluates the abundance and characteristics (polymer composition, shape, size, and color) of MPs discharged from 29 rivers flowing into the sou...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/adaf47 |
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| author | Yahya Terzi Rafet Çağrı Öztürk Ahmet Raif Eryaşar İlhan Yandi Ahmet Şahin Fatih Yılmaz Kenan Gedik Sedat Gündoğdu |
| author_facet | Yahya Terzi Rafet Çağrı Öztürk Ahmet Raif Eryaşar İlhan Yandi Ahmet Şahin Fatih Yılmaz Kenan Gedik Sedat Gündoğdu |
| author_sort | Yahya Terzi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Rivers are critical pathways of microplastic (MP) pollution to marine environments, yet their contributions to the Black Sea remain understudied. This study evaluates the abundance and characteristics (polymer composition, shape, size, and color) of MPs discharged from 29 rivers flowing into the southern Black Sea. Using a plankton net with a 200 μ m mesh size, samples were collected from river mouths, revealing an average MP abundance of 9.63 ± 1.27 MP m ^−3 , ranging from 1.03 to 29.8 MP m ^−3 . Eastern Black Sea rivers exhibited significantly higher MP levels (11.0 ± 1.57 MP m ^−3 ) compared to western rivers (5.15 ± 1.25 MP m ^−3 ). Annual MP discharge to the Black Sea was estimated at 1.49 × 10 ^11 particles. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET, 59.3% ± 2.66%), polyethylene (PE, 20.8% ± 2.04%), and polypropylene (PP, 14.1% ± 2.36%) were the most common polymers, with PET and PE being significantly dominant. MP sizes ranged predominantly between 200–1000 μ m, and fibers constituted the majority of shapes (64.1%), followed by fragments (28.3%). White (36.8% ± 1.93%) and transparent (30.9% ± 2.39%) MPs were the most prevalent colors. While no significant differences in MP characteristics were detected between basins (NMDS and ANOSIM), this study emphasizes rivers as major pathways for MP pollution in the Black Sea. These findings underscore the urgent need for targeted mitigation strategies to safeguard marine ecosystems and biodiversity. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-2f30f54fdfd64c069050c5549c350369 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-2f30f54fdfd64c069050c5549c3503692025-02-07T17:15:13ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262025-01-0120202406110.1088/1748-9326/adaf47Riverine microplastic discharge along the southern Black Sea coast of TürkiyeYahya Terzi0Rafet Çağrı Öztürk1Ahmet Raif Eryaşar2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7656-6113İlhan Yandi3Ahmet Şahin4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2378-7921Fatih Yılmaz5Kenan Gedik6https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8244-6935Sedat Gündoğdu7https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4415-2837Department of Fisheries Technology Engineering, Faculty of Marine Sciences, Karadeniz Technical University , 61530 Trabzon, Turkey; Institute of Marine Sciences and Technology, Karadeniz Technical University , 61080 Trabzon, TurkeyDepartment of Fisheries Technology Engineering, Faculty of Marine Sciences, Karadeniz Technical University , 61530 Trabzon, Turkey; Aquatic Animal Health and Molecular Genetic Lab, Karadeniz Technical University , 61080 Trabzon, TurkeyVocational School of Technical Sciences, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University , 53100 Rize, TurkeyFaculty of Maritime, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University , 53900 Rize, TurkeyDepartment of Fisheries Technology Engineering, Faculty of Marine Sciences, Karadeniz Technical University , 61530 Trabzon, TurkeyVocational School of Technical Sciences, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University , 53100 Rize, TurkeyVocational School of Technical Sciences, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University , 53100 Rize, TurkeyFaculty of Fisheries, Department of Basic Science, Cukurova University , Adana, TurkeyRivers are critical pathways of microplastic (MP) pollution to marine environments, yet their contributions to the Black Sea remain understudied. This study evaluates the abundance and characteristics (polymer composition, shape, size, and color) of MPs discharged from 29 rivers flowing into the southern Black Sea. Using a plankton net with a 200 μ m mesh size, samples were collected from river mouths, revealing an average MP abundance of 9.63 ± 1.27 MP m ^−3 , ranging from 1.03 to 29.8 MP m ^−3 . Eastern Black Sea rivers exhibited significantly higher MP levels (11.0 ± 1.57 MP m ^−3 ) compared to western rivers (5.15 ± 1.25 MP m ^−3 ). Annual MP discharge to the Black Sea was estimated at 1.49 × 10 ^11 particles. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET, 59.3% ± 2.66%), polyethylene (PE, 20.8% ± 2.04%), and polypropylene (PP, 14.1% ± 2.36%) were the most common polymers, with PET and PE being significantly dominant. MP sizes ranged predominantly between 200–1000 μ m, and fibers constituted the majority of shapes (64.1%), followed by fragments (28.3%). White (36.8% ± 1.93%) and transparent (30.9% ± 2.39%) MPs were the most prevalent colors. While no significant differences in MP characteristics were detected between basins (NMDS and ANOSIM), this study emphasizes rivers as major pathways for MP pollution in the Black Sea. These findings underscore the urgent need for targeted mitigation strategies to safeguard marine ecosystems and biodiversity.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/adaf47plastic pollutionmarine litterBlack Seariverine dischargefreshwater |
| spellingShingle | Yahya Terzi Rafet Çağrı Öztürk Ahmet Raif Eryaşar İlhan Yandi Ahmet Şahin Fatih Yılmaz Kenan Gedik Sedat Gündoğdu Riverine microplastic discharge along the southern Black Sea coast of Türkiye Environmental Research Letters plastic pollution marine litter Black Sea riverine discharge freshwater |
| title | Riverine microplastic discharge along the southern Black Sea coast of Türkiye |
| title_full | Riverine microplastic discharge along the southern Black Sea coast of Türkiye |
| title_fullStr | Riverine microplastic discharge along the southern Black Sea coast of Türkiye |
| title_full_unstemmed | Riverine microplastic discharge along the southern Black Sea coast of Türkiye |
| title_short | Riverine microplastic discharge along the southern Black Sea coast of Türkiye |
| title_sort | riverine microplastic discharge along the southern black sea coast of turkiye |
| topic | plastic pollution marine litter Black Sea riverine discharge freshwater |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/adaf47 |
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