Gondwana Research 107 (2022) 123–133

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Abundance, characteristics, and distribution of microplastics in the

Xiangjiang river, China
Lingshi Yin a,b, Xiaofeng Wen c,d,e, Danlian Huang a,b,⇑, Zhenyu Zhou c,d, Ruihao Xiao a,b, Li Du a,b,
Hongyu Su c,d, Kanglong Wang c,d, Quyang Tian a,b, Zhousha Tang a,b, Lan Gao a,b
a
College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
b
Key Laboratory of Environmental Biology and Pollution Control (Hunan University), Ministry of Education, Changsha 410082, China
c
School of Hydraulic Engineering, Changsha University of Science and Technology, Changsha 410114, China
d
Key Laboratory of Dongting Lake Aquatic Eco-Environmental Control and Restoration of Hunan Province, Changsha 410114, China
e
Key Laboratory of Water-Sediment Sciences and Water Disaster Prevention of Hunan Province, Changsha 410114, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The source and distribution characteristics of microplastics in the freshwater environment remain to be
Received 14 August 2021 investigated, and there are many limitations in the microplastics baseline database of freshwater area.
Revised 12 January 2022 This study investigates the characteristics of microplastic pollution in the sediments of the Xiangjiang
Accepted 20 January 2022
River, China. Samples obtained were identified using stereoscopic microscopy and Fourier-transform
Available online 22 February 2022
infrared spectroscopy after oxidative digestion and density separation. The microplastic abundance in
the sediment of the river ranged from 144 to 510 items/kg (dw) with an average abundance at
Keywords:
288 ± 60 items/kg. Furthermore, nine polymer compositions of the microplastics were detected.
Microplastics
Distribution
Upstream inflow, domestic effluent, industrial, agriculture, and air settlement are considered as sources
Xiangjiang River of microplastics in Xiangjiang River. The microplastic abundance of the lower reach of the Xiangjiang
Sediment River is significantly higher than those of the upper and middle reaches, particularly in Changsha and
Pollution Dongting Lake areas. Different types of microplastics show a different distribution characteristic.
Hydrodynamic condition is an important factor affecting the distribution of microplastics. The results
of this study not only fill the gap in current baseline data on microplastic pollution, however, the data
obtained serve as a reference for following studies in other freshwater areas.
Ó 2022 International Association for Gondwana Research. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction morphological characteristics of microplastics can lead to different

Plastics having a size smaller than 5 mm are defined as
microplastics. When people began to value plastic pollution for
decades, microplastics began attracting attention because of their
different environmental effects from larger plastics (Thompson
et al., 2004). The extensive utilization of plastics complicates the
source of microplastics. Microplastics are available globally, and
their light weights and stabilities allow their further transportation
(Koutnik et al., 2021). Organisms, particularly the aquatic ones,
inevitably encounter microplastics in natural environments (Kim
et al., 2021a). Because the morphological characteristics of certain
microplastics and aquatic organisms are similar, the microplastics
in the aquatic environments might be ingested by some organisms
(Shen et al., 2019; Xue et al., 2019). The complex and diverse
⇑ Corresponding author at: College of Environmental Science and Engineering,
Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China.
E-mail address: huangdanlian@hnu.edu.cn (D. Huang).
results on their toxicity, adsorption, and transportation
(Ramkumar et al., 2021). Furthermore, microplastics can migrate
along the food chain, affecting more organisms, including humans
(Krause et al., 2021). Moreover, humans might be exposed to
microplastics that are available in daily necessities and diets
directly, such as cosmetics, toothpaste, tea bags, and bottled water
(Zhang et al., 2020a).
The effects of the biotoxins of microplastics have been demon-
strated in many organisms. The survival, growth, and reproduction
rates, and endocrine of organisms can be affected by microplastics
(Banerjee and Shelver, 2021; He et al., 2021a). Furthermore, chem-
ical and biological pollutants, such as bisphenol A, polychlorinated
biphenyls, heavy metals, bacteria, viruses, can be adsorbed or col-
onized on the surface of microplastics (Liu et al., 2021a; Vieira
et al., 2021). Moreover, their large surface area and hydrophobicity
render them carriers of other pollutants and induce compound tox-
icity to exposed organisms (Jiménez-Skrzypek et al., 2021; Xu
et al., 2021a). Microplastics weathered via external influences in

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2022.01.019
1751-7311/Ó
1342-937X/ 2022 International Association for Gondwana Research. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
L. Yin, X. Wen, D. Huang et al.
the natural environment. Cracks and potholes could increase their
specific surface areas, thereby increasing their surface-active sites
(Duan et al., 2021; Ouyang et al., 2021). Furthermore, microplastics
can release additives, such as plasticizers, flame retardants, and
stabilizers, in the environment (Carmen, 2021; Hu et al., 2021).
The occurrence of microplastic pollution is the basis of all
microplastic-related studies. Microplastics are available globally
in oceans, rivers, lakes, land, and organisms (Du et al., 2021). Both
the densely populated cities and the remote regions are threatened
by microplastic pollution (Feng et al., 2021; Sekudewicz et al.,
2021). Slow-flow areas, such as oceans, lakes, and reservoirs, are
potential sinks of microplastics, yet rivers serve as bridges between
them and terrestrial environments (Ho et al., 2020a). The explana-
tion of the pollution characteristics of river microplastics could
help in the understanding and control microplastic pollution. Thus,
as the largest producer of plastics worldwide, microplastics have
been ubiquitously detected in Chinese rivers (Zhang et al., 2018).
Furthermore, despite the relevant studies of multiple researchers,
the baseline data of microplastic pollution in many valuable rivers
are still unavailable.
The Xiangjiang River, a mainstream length of 844 km and a
basin catchment area of 94,660 km2, is a major tributary of the
Yangtze River. The Xiangjiang River flows from the south through
several counties in Hunan Province to the north, into Dongting
Lake and the Yangtze River. More than half of the residents of
Hunan Province live in the Xiangjiang River Basin, and the river
is the undisputed mother river of 70 million residents of Hunan
Province (Liu and Mao, 2020). However, there has not been a sys-
tematic investigation of microplastic pollution in the Xiangjiang
River to date. This study addresses the two currently existing
knowledge gaps: 1) many deficiencies remain in microplastic pol-
lution baseline databases of the freshwater areas and 2) the lack of
knowledge of the sources and distribution characteristics of
microplastics. This study conducts research around the following
issues: 1) systematically investigated the microplastic pollution
occurrence of the Xiangjiang River, 2) explored the potential
sources of Xiangjiang River microplastics, and 3) explained and
analyzed the distribution characteristics of microplastics in the
Xiangjiang River. This study will be a valuable supplement to the
field of microplastic pollution research in freshwater area, provid-
ing a basic reference for subsequent studies.
2. Materials and method
2.1. Study area
A total of 14 sampling sites were distributed in the six munici-
pal administrative districts of Hunan Province flowing through the
Xiangjiang River in this study. These sampling sites were coded
S1–S14 from the upstream to the downstream. Each municipal
administrative district has two sampling sites, one in the upstream
suburb area and one within the urban area. Notably, the area of the
river channel on the east side of Dongting Lake (S11–S14) was
included in this research scope. Fig. 1 and Table S1 show the details
of the study area and sampling sites.
2.2. Sample collection and laboratory analyses
The sampling and processing methods in this study are based on
those in published papers (Adomat and Grischek, 2020; Tirkey and
Upadhyay, 2021; Yin et al., 2021a). The samples were collected in
the Spring 2021. The sampling was conducted on a boat or directly
on the eyot; the selected method depended on the actual situation
at the sampling sites. The sediments were collected by a grab sam-
pler (JC-W-801 N, Jingzhe, China) or a stainless engineer shovel
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Gondwana Research 107 (2022) 123–133
(D10, Warsun, Germany). The samples were collected five times
at each sampling site at 20-m intervals (200 g of the sediment
(wet weight), i.e., 1 kg of the sediment, was collected from each
sampling site (Yang et al., 2021). The sediments from each sampling
site were mixed immediately after they were collected and kept in a
labeled seal bag. All sampling bags were stored in a sampling box at
a constant temperature of 4℃ and transferred to the laboratory for
processing as soon as possible.
For each sample analysis, 100 g (dry weight) of each sediment
sample was weighed. These samples were stirred in a sufficient
amount of a zinc chloride solution (Zhang et al., 2021a). Wet diges-
tion is used to remove visible organic matters in surface water sam-
ples. The 30% hydrogen peroxide solution was mixed with the
ferrous-ion solution in appropriate proportions and adequately
added to the sample for digestion. Zinc chloride solution is used
to remove mixed sediment particles and minerals from samples
by density separation (Bellasi et al., 2021). Thereafter, the samples
were transferred onto a GF/C filter (0.22 lm) for visual identifica-
tion, and the dried filters were inspected with a stereoscopic micro-
scope (Stemi 508, Zeiss, Germany). The magnification of the
microscope was 20x to 100x fold as per the specific requirements.
Published studies and our previous experience have been used to
determine whether a particle belongs to plastic (Ribeiro et al.,
2019; Wang et al., 2017). The polymer compositions of representa-
tive microplastics were identified by a micro-Fourier-transform
infrared (FTIR) spectrometer (Nicolet iN10, Thermo Fisher Scien-
tific, USA) (Mani et al., 2019). We first aligned the particles with
an FTIR spectroscopic database by comparing its IR spectrum with
that of the FTIR polymer spectrum library followed by the identify-
ing characteristic peaks combined with published studies to deter-
mine the polymer composition of suspected microplastics.
2.3. Quality assurance and quality control
Clean cotton lab coats and phenolic aldehyde gloves were
always utilized during the processing. Non-plastic (metal or glass)
instruments and equipment were preferentially employed for each
step of the sampling and analyses. All tools were ultrasonically
cleaned with ultrapure water before and after each process. A sam-
ple of deionized water (50 L), which was employed as the blank
control group, was subjected to the same processes with the sam-
ples (Jang et al., 2020). The microplastics detected in the blank
samples were fibers with an abundance of 0.17 ± 0.37 items/sam-
ple. The low level of background pollution was neglected in this
study. Meanwhile, recovery experiments were performed to
ensure the reliability of the data in this study. The experimental
processes and details are shown in the Supplementary material.
The recovery rates are shown in Table S2.
2.4. Statistical analysis
The microplastic abundances of the sediments are represented
by items/kg (dw). This study only counts 0.05 to 5 mm microplas-
tics considering the performance of the instrument. Besides, this
practice is consistent with most published studies to facilitate
pollution level comparison. Based on the characteristics of the dis-
tributed data, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) tests or the Kruskal–
Wallis H-tests were employed to compare the differences in the
microplastic abundances of different groups. All data analysis was
performed by the Microsoft Excel (365, Microsoft, USA) software.
3. Results
Microplastics were detected in all the sediment samples with
an average abundance of 288 ± 60 items/kg, ranged from
L. Yin, X. Wen, D. Huang et al. Gondwana Research 107 (2022) 123–133

Fig. 1. Location of study area and sampling sites.

144 ± 33 to 510 ± 63 items/kg (Fig. 2). The highest value of
microplastic abundance in the Xiangjiang River appears at the
S11 sampling site, which is located in the Dongting Lake area.
The least contaminated sampling site S1 was located at the most
upstream of the study area. Overall, the microplastic abundance
in the upper and middle reaches of the Xiangjiang River is lower
than in the downstream reaches. However, the difference in
microplastic abundance did not reach one order of magnitude.
Typical microplastics collected from sediment of Xiangjiang
River are shown in Fig. 3. The classification methods similar to
published studies have been applied in the sediment samples.
The principles of classification were implemented following pub-

Fig. 2. Microplastic abundance of each sampling sites of the Xiangjiang River.

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L. Yin, X. Wen, D. Huang et al.
lished studies (Peng et al., 2017). All microplastics were classified
into three group: fiber, pellet, and fragment (Fig. 4a). Fiber
microplastics represented the largest proportion at all sampling
sites, with varying proportions of 51.0%- 85.8% (the mean propor-
tion was 70.4%). Fragment microplastics were detected at all sam-
pling sites with an average proportion of 20.6%. Pellet
microplastics represent an average of 9.02% of all microplastics.
Five colors of microplastics were separated from the Xiangjiang
River sediment (Fig. 4b). Transparent microplastics accounted for
between 25.6% and 71.9% of all microplastics with an average of
48.8%. After transparent microplastics, the next plastics were black
(24.9%), blue (13.2%), green (7.4%), and red (5.8%). Microplastics
collected from the Xiangjiang River are divided in four ranges as
per their sizes: <0.05, 0.5–1, 1–3, and 3–5 mm (Fig. 4c). The sizes
and quantity of microplastics showed opposite proportions with
the above ranges at 70.4%, 17.5%, 10.0%, and 2.1%, respectively.
A total of 150 typical microplastics were selected for FTIR iden-
tification in this study. The selected microplastics are representa-
tives that cover all types. Nine microplastics of different polymer
compositions were reported from the Xiangjiang River sediment
(Fig. 5). The nine different polymer compositions are sequentially
ordered by proportion: polyethylene (PE, 35.3%), polyethylene
terephthalate (PET, 29.3%), polystyrene (PS, 20.0%), polypropylene
(PP, 8.0%), polycarbonate (PC, 3.3%), polyamide (PA, 2.0%), polyvi-
nyl chloride (PVC, 0.7%), cellulose propionate (CP, 0.7%), and ethy-
lene–vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA, 0.7%).
4. Discussion
4.1. Microplastic pollution level of the Xiangjiang River sediment
The microplastic pollution levels of different rivers worldwide
were compared with those of the Xiangjiang River, as listed in
Table 1. Overall, the pollution level of the microplastics in the
Xiangjiang River was lower than those of the other rivers; the
Qinhuai River and Haihe River, which are both busy rivers located
in economically developed areas with intense human activities;
moreover, they contain several orders-of-magnitude-higher
quantities of microplastics (Liu et al., 2021b; Niu et al., 2021).
Fig. 3. Typical microplastics under the stereoscopic microscope.
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Gondwana Research 107 (2022) 123–133
Conversely, the river of the Tibet Plateau was less susceptible to
microplastic pollution compared with the Xiangjiang River (Jiang
et al., 2019). Dissimilar to the Xiangjiang River, the large rivers that
flow through different regions were prone to great differences in
abundances. These rivers, such as the Brisbane River and Antuã
River, flow through very different areas, and their microplastic
abundances vary greatly (He et al., 2020; Rodrigues et al., 2018).
Microplastics reached and accumulated in the sediment of the
Xiangjiang River through various pathways. The volume of the run-
off water of the Xiangjiang River is mainly derived from rainfall,
and the annual flow is stable (Xie et al., 2021). The Xiangjiang River
Basin covers an area of > 94,000 km2, and the surface runoff brings
numerous microplastics to the river (Sang et al., 2021). Cities are a
significant source of microplastics and are hotspots of microplastic
pollution. The mainstream of the Xiangjiang River flows via seven
cities with an average population of over two million and an
annual GDP of > 200 billion Yuan. The systemic and developed eco-
nomic structures account for the prosperity and abundant
microplastics along the Xiangjiang River (Peng et al., 2018). The
sewage and rainwater discharge outlets in cities are the point
sources of microplastic pollution; however, the rural areas through
which the Xiangjiang River flows are typical nonpoint sources
(Chen et al., 2019). The different and scattered distributions of pol-
lution sources along the Xiangjiang River present considerable
challenges to the prevention and control of microplastic pollution
therein. Nevertheless, the production and sales of plastic bags
and agricultural mulch films with thicknesses of < 0.025 and
0.01 mm, respectively, as well as cosmetics containing plastic
microbeads, have been banned in Hunan Province after 2020 (Li
et al., 2021a). The implementation of several relevant measures
could reduce the level of microplastic pollution in the Xiangjiang
River in the following few years. Moreover, continuous improve-
ments of advanced prevention policies and treatment methods
are required in the future (Table S3).
Although the pollution level of microplastics in the Xiangjiang
River is not high, it is still worth noting. Different from the general
big river, the areas where the mainstream of the Xiangjiang River
flows through were almost all closely related to human beings.
Some of these areas were populated cities and paramount agricul-
tural and industrial areas. Domestic water, irrigation water, and
L. Yin, X. Wen, D. Huang et al.
Fig. 4. Morphological characteristics of collected microplastics: a) shape, b) color, and c) size.
production water in these areas all depended on the Xiangjiang
River, and microplastic pollution would have different effects on
different areas (Chen et al., 2021). For the surrounding resident,
the Xiangjiang River is their living water source, both the drinking
water and domestic wash water come from the river (Zhang et al.,
2021b). Although the multiprocessing of the waterworks could
effectively remove most microplastics, there were still residues
in the tap water eventually used by residents. Microplastics in
tap water is a common problem in the world (Kirstein et al.,
2021). Although various methods have been employed to remove
microplastics based on previous experience in treatment with
other contaminants, current progress is relatively limited (Deng
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Gondwana Research 107 (2022) 123–133
et al., 2020; Venkataramana et al., 2021; Xu et al., 2021b). Because
the microplastic problem of drinking water sources cannot be com-
pletely solved in a short time, the improvement in the drinking
water treatment process may be a more realistic and effective
method currently (Sarkar et al., 2021).
In addition to the direct impact on humans, the indirect impact
of microplastics on humans should not be ignored. There are
numerous farmlands distributed along the Xiangjiang River, with
crops primarily planted with Indica rice (Oryza sativa L.).
Microplastics in the Xiangjiang sediment may enter these farm-
lands by irrigation or sludge reuse (Wei et al., 2022). The phytotox-
icity of microplastics on rice could be reflected in multiple aspects,
L. Yin, X. Wen, D. Huang et al. Gondwana Research 107 (2022) 123–133

microplastics is very extensive, especially for a long river like the

Xiangjiang River that flows through many different regions
(Barbosa et al., 2020). In addition to the shedding from the textile
material, fragment from tire and peeling of paint are common
sources in urban areas; in rural areas, microplastics spreading from
composting and wastewater sludge are cause for concern
(Gaylarde et al., 2021; Gui et al., 2021). The airborne microplastics,
though not quantitatively comparable to aquatic or terrestrial
microplastics, are the biggest contributors to spreading microplas-
tics in every corner of the world (Brahney et al., 2021). The deposit
characteristics of airborne microplastics in Xiangjiang River are
still unclear like many other regions of the world. Their specific
sources, migration mechanism and exposure risk assessment
remain to be studied. These concerns will be the focus of our next
Fig. 5. Polymer characteristics of collected microplastics. research (Brahney et al., 2020; Evangeliou et al., 2020).
Despite the relatively small proportion, pellets and fragments
should not be ignored. Both types of microplastics are detected
Table 1
Microplastics abundances of the Xiangjiang River and other rivers worldwide.
at all sampling sites. Additives in personal care products, medici-
nes, and cosmetics are the source of pellets, while the fragments
River Area Abundance (items/ Reference are basically secondary microplastics broken from large plastics
kg)
(Alidoust et al., 2021; Rizzo et al., 2021). Different fragment
Antua River Portugal 2.6–629 (Rodrigues et al., 2018) microplastics are produced in residential areas, industrial areas,
Ciwalengke Indonesia 30.3 ± 15.9 (Alam et al., 2019)
tourist areas, and agricultural areas. Fragmented microplastics
River
Wei River China 360–1320 (Ding et al., 2019) tend to be hard or have sharp edges and can cause physical damage
Tibet rivers China 50–195 (Jiang et al., 2019) to the organism’s skin and digestive tract (Kwak and An, 2021). Pel-
Nakdong River Korea 1970 ± 62 (Eo et al., 2019) let microplastics are currently difficult to remove from various
Brisbane River Australia 10–520 (He et al., 2020)
wastewater treatment facilities . Moreover, pellets are currently
Qinhuai River China 1115–6380 (Niu et al., 2021)
Vistula River Poland 190–580 (Sekudewicz et al.,
the most used type in laboratory toxicity studies on microplastics,
2021) and there is substantial evidence for their impact on organisms
Ganga River India 99.27–409.86 (Singh et al., 2021) (Yin et al., 2021b).
Haihe River China 1346–11917 (Liu et al., 2021b) Plastic products can have a variety of colors according to people
Xiangjiang China 144–510 This study
needs. Overall, colored microplastics represent 51.34% in this
River 280 ± 60
study, slightly higher than transparent microplastics, yet the differ-
ence is not significant (p > 0.05) (Martí et al., 2020). Even so, the
proportion of transparent microplastics is significantly higher than
such as growth, metabolism, and oxidative stress (Zhou et al.,
any of the other colors with a proportion of 48.76% (p < 0.05). The
2021). Combined effects due to the joint presence of microplastics
above-mentioned colors are all common for plastic products
and other pollutants might have more serious consequences (Dong
(Kumar et al., 2021). Plastic products with high quality are stained
et al., 2022).
by stable methods such as color masterbatch. In contrast, the dis-
posable products are mostly transparent or stained unstable (Jang
4.2. Sources of microplastics in the Xiangjiang River et al., 2020). Simply stained plastics may fade in nature or during
laboratory processing, thus increasing the proportion of transpar-
The morphological characteristics of microplastics are impor- ent microplastics. Different colors of plastic may lead to different
tant evidence for tracing their sources. Fiber is the most common effects in the environment (Li et al., 2021b). Colored microplastics
microplastic shape in the Xiangjiang River with 70.36% of the total are more likely to be found and miseating by organisms and the
collected microplastics. Because of the wide application of plastic blocking effect of light can affect the aquatic environment (includ-
fibers, they occupy a large proportion of many studies, especially ing plant photosynthesis and animal activity) (Silva et al., 2020;
in freshwater environments (Xu et al., 2021c). As the most densely Yin et al., 2021b).
populated area in Hunan Province, areas along the Xiangjiang River Microplastics smaller than 0.05 mm are the most common
will produce a large amount of fiber, such as laundry. This phe- (p < 0.05), similar to most previous studies. Rhine River, Wei River,
nomenon is even more severe in rural areas that lack wastewater and Yangtze River all show similar phenomena (Ding et al., 2019;
treatment facilities (Jang et al., 2020; Long et al., 2022). Even He et al., 2021b; Mani et al., 2019). The non-highest proportion of
microplastics in the Hunan province where the Xiangjiang River microplastics occurred in several studies. This might be related to
does not flow though can be remitted into the Xiangjiang River the difference in the lower limit and classification method. A large
by>2000 tributaries (Li et al., 2020). These tributaries into the size plastic can be cracked to form multiple small size plastics
waters of the Xiangjiang River also contain microplastics that can- (Wang et al., 2021). This phenomenon may be more significant for
not be ignored (Yin et al., 2019). Moreover, the microplastic in the deposits that can accumulate microplastics for a long time (Duan
Yangtze River, Zishui River, Lishui River, and other rivers is likely to et al., 2021). The significance of plastic cracking in the natural envi-
enter the Xiangjiang River through the wide lake area (Jiang et al., ronment is not limited to increasing the number of microplastics,
2018). but the toxic effects caused by small size microplastics are more seri-
The large catchment area not only brings more microplastics to ous (Sendra et al., 2021). In addition to size, microplastic surface
the Xiangjiang River from the aquatic environment as mentioned characteristics changes caused by weathering can enhance their
above, but also the microplastics from the air should not be adsorption of other pollutants, leading to unexpected combine
ignored (Sridharan et al., 2021). Plastics exposed to the air produce effects (Sendra et al., 2021). The weathering of microplastics in the
large amounts of microplastics under external effects such as natural environment is worthy of concern and requires more quan-
ultraviolet light and wind (Liu et al., 2019). The source of air titative research in the future than the conjecture in this study.
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L. Yin, X. Wen, D. Huang et al.
In the FTIR tests, 53 of the 150 microplastics were identified as
PE, with the largest proportion with 35.33%. This material is spread
all over three microplastic shapes. PE fiber with high strength, low
density, good insulation, is a common raw material for industrial
and domestic textiles (Hsieh et al., 2021). PE is also a common
material for manufacturing a variety of plastic products, especially
low-priced disposable items. PET is the second most common type
with a 29.33% proportion. Durable, cheap, and widely used PET
fiber has occupied>70% of the plastic fiber market for decades
and is an essential raw material in production and life
(Pignattelli et al., 2021). PS with various processing methods is
an important support for electrical appliances, building materials,
heat insulation materials, and the cosmetics industry. PS appears
in the Xiangjiang River sediment with pellet and fragment shapes,
indicated their applications in different fields. PS accounts for 20%
of all the microplastics detected (Guimarães et al., 2021). PA is a
common raw material for textiles, especially in terms of fishing
gears, but the fishing ban policy of the Xiangjiang River may
greatly reduce its use in recent years (Tang et al., 2020). The rela-
tively large densities of PS and PET contribute to their settlement,
while PE settlement depends on external actions such as biofilms
(Cutroneo et al., 2021; Miao et al., 2021). In addition, several PP
and PC were detected . Only each one piece of PVC, CP, and EVA
fragment has been found. However, the detection of small amounts
of PVC may be more significant than large PE based on their differ-
ences in toxicity (Zhang et al., 2020b). If future detection tech-
niques become simpler and cheaper, it is meaningful to identify
all the collected microplastics (Pan et al., 2021; Prata et al., 2021).
Overall, based on data analysis, it is indicated that the source of
microplastic pollution in the Xiangjiang River primarily includes
the following parts: 1) the microplastics release from the daily life
of residents and tourists along the Xiangjiang River; 2) microplastic
carried in the water current from the tributaries of the Xiangjiang
River; 3) microplastics discharging with the industrial and agricul-
tural wastewater in the Xiangjiang River basin; and 4) settlement
of suspended microplastics in the air.
4.3. Variance distribution of microplastics in the Xiangjiang River
The difference in the microplastic pollution levels across the
Xiangjiang River did not reach the order of magnitude. This phe-
nomenon is similar to that between the Wei River and Nakdong
River (Ding et al., 2019; Eo et al., 2019). The Xiangjiang River flows
through multiple cities in Hunan Province, and the microplastic
abundance varies in different areas. Eight areas (seven municipal
administrative districts and Dongting Lake area) which the Xiang-
jiang River flows through show differences in the microplastic
abundance (Fig. 6). From the perspective of administrative divi-
sions, the microplastic abundances in Changsha (S9, S10) and
Dongting Lake (S11, S12) is significantly higher than that in the
other five areas (p < 0.05). Changsha is a megalopolis with a 10 mil-
lion permanent population and the economic and cultural center of
the Hunan Province and central China (Li et al., 2021a). As an inter-
national metropolis, Changsha has a complete and huge economic
structure, which leads to a wide source of microplastics in this
area. Microplastic pollution in Changsha has been verified in our
preliminary research (Wen et al., 2018; Yin et al., 2019). The hydro-
dynamic conditions of the Changsha section of the Xiangjiang River
are significantly affected by the Changsha Comprehensive Hub. In
the three years apart from this study and the previous research,
the water storage level of important water conservancy hubs in
the Changsha section of the Xiangjiang River was further raised
(Liu and Mao, 2020). When there was no significant change in
the upstream water inflow, the water level increased the water
section area and decreased the current speed. This phenomenon
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Gondwana Research 107 (2022) 123–133
was more pronounced when the hub blocked the water, with both
upstream and local microplastics trapped in the area (Liu et al.,
2021b). Microplastics were more inclined to settle into the sedi-
ment than transport with the water current. Similar phenomena
existed in the Dongting Lake area. After the Xiangjiang River flows
into Dongting Lake, the width of the river rapidly increases, and the
flow field becomes complex in the concatenated area under the
action of the river cross-section change and density current which
leads to the settlement of the microplastics (Hu et al., 2020). Nota-
bly, the abundance of microplastics in Yueyang, located in the
Dongting Lake District, did not significantly differ in the middle
and upstream regions which could be attributed to the obvious dif-
ference in the hydrodynamic situation of the Yueyang area and
other areas of Dongting Lake. Yueyang is located on the eastern-
most side of Dongting Lake, the width of the river begins to narrow
and has strong hydrodynamic conditions. Moreover, shore protec-
tion measures make it difficult for microplastics to enter directly
into the river, making it difficult for microplastics to accumulate
in the sediments. It is worth noting that hydrodynamic conditions
can not only lead to microplastic settlement, but also lead to sed-
iment settlement. In other words, the increase of total microplas-
tics in sediment does not necessarily represent rising
microplastics per unit volume of sediment. Xiangjiang River, as a
completely channelized river, has a low sediment concentration.
The low sediment concentration in the water makes the settlement
of microplastics more numerically obvious (Leslie et al., 2017).
Unlike generally recognized pollutants, there is no effective treat-
ment for sediment contaminated by microplastics (Chen et al.,
2020a; Huang et al., b; Wang et al., 2020). This feature increases
the abundance of microplastic in the sediments year by year and
gradually increases the potential risk to the ecosystems (Nava
and Leoni, 2021).
The environmental impact of different forms of microplastics
can be quite different (Fig. 7) (Chen et al., 2020b). Some phenom-
ena may be masked merely from the total abundance of microplas-
tics. The abundance of fragments in Dongting Lake area was
significantly higher than in all other areas in this study
(p < 0.05). Fragment microplastics have a greater density than fiber
microplastics and are easier to settle in the sediment under the
same conditions (Niu et al., 2022). Fragments are easier to sink into
the sediment on the wide surface of Dongting Lake and the ubiqui-
tous vortex than fibers floating on the surface. Besides, environ-
mental protection measures along the Xiangjiang River have
been improved by extensive in recent years. Yet the Dongting Lake
area, far away from the administrative center, is an exception.
These measures dramatically reduce the plastic fragments into
the Xiangjiang River but have a relatively small influence on fibers
and pellets (Zheng et al., 2020). The above two reasons that lead to
the microplastic pollution problem in the Dongting Lake area are
more obvious than considering only the total abundance of
microplastics. From the fiber microplastic perspective, the abun-
dance of fiber microplastic was significantly higher in the Chang-
sha area than in other areas including the Dongting Lake
(p < 0.05) which reflected the interception effect of Changsha Com-
prehensive Hub on microplastics mentioned above. The extensive
source of origin in Changsha and upstream inflow of fiber
microplastics jointly led to this result (Watkins et al., 2019). Over-
all, different forms of microplastics have different sources, trans-
portation mechanisms, and environmental effects. Different
microplastics need to be treated or removed differently. Therefore,
future research should further improve plastic pollution preven-
tion and control measures as well as develop more targeted
methods.
In this study, two sites were set in each municipal administra-
tive district, one sampling site was set upstream of the city and
L. Yin, X. Wen, D. Huang et al.
Fig. 6. Comparison of microplastic abundance between different area.
Fig. 7. Distribution of fragment and fiber microplastics in Xiangjiang River.
the other one was set in the urban area. There was no significant
difference in microplastic abundances between urban and rural
areas of Xiangjiang River (p > 0.05). It is generally considered that
densely populated urban areas will have a higher level of
microplastic pollution than the surrounding suburbs (Jang et al.,
2020). However, this phenomenon does not necessarily happen.
Similar conditions and results occur in the Three Gorges area of
the Yangtze River and East Dongting Lake (Di and Wang, 2018;
Yin et al., 2020). Under the current of the Xiangjiang River, the
migration of microplastics is complex and frequent. Microplastics
do not only have an impact on the area where the pollution source
is located but also on a larger range (Ji et al., 2021). Microplastic
abundances are significantly higher in lower reaches (p < 0.05),
but differences between upstream and midstream are not signifi-
cant (p > 0.05). This can be attributed to the combined effects of
the regional environment and hydrodynamic conditions (Kim,
2021b). However, the transportation of microplastics is a complex
process, especially for freshwater areas interlaced by rivers and
lakes. Migration and accumulation of microplastics in inland fresh-
130
Gondwana Research 107 (2022) 123–133
water regions need to be more systematic and in-depth studies in
future (Han et al., 2020).
5. Conclusion
There are still knowledge gaps on microplastic pollution in
freshwater areas. This study focuses on a paramount river in cen-
tral China, the Xiangjiang River, and investigated the microplastics
in the river sediment. After the separation and statistics of samples,
a mediocre level of microplastic contamination was reported from
Xiangjiang River sediments at 144 to 510 items/kg (dw). Three dif-
ferent shapes, five colors, and nine polymer compositions of
microplastic were detected from the Xiangjiang River sediments
with a stereoscopic microscope and FTIR. Potential sources of
microplastics include domestic, industry, and agriculture effluent,
upstream inflow, and airborne settlement. Changes in hydrody-
namic conditions significantly affected microplastic distribution
such as the construction of water conservancy hubs and changes
L. Yin, X. Wen, D. Huang et al.
in the river width. The results reflected that the transportation and
accumulation characteristics of different types of microplastics in
rivers differed and thus should be considered differently in future
studies and pollution control policies.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Lingshi Yin: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation,
Formal analysis, Writing – original draft. Xiaofeng Wen: Concep-
tualization, Methodology, Investigation, Formal analysis, Writing
– original draft. Danlian Huang: Resources, Supervision, Writing
– review & editing. Zhenyu Zhou: Formal analysis, Investigation.
Ruihao Xiao: Formal analysis, Investigation. Li Du: Formal analy-
sis, Investigation. Hongyu Su: Formal analysis, Investigation. Kan-
glong Wang: Formal analysis, Investigation. Quyang Tian: Formal
analysis, Investigation. Zhousha Tang: Formal analysis, Investiga-
tion. Lan Gao: Formal analysis, Investigation.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgement
This study was financially supported by the Program for the
National Natural Science Foundation of China (52109083,
51879101, 51779090, 51709101, 51809090, 51809293), Natural
Science Foundation of Hunan Province (2021JJ40100,
2021JJ40599), the National Program for Support of Top–Notch
Young Professionals of China (2014), the Program for Changjiang
Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University (IRT-
13R17), Open-end Research Fund of the Key Laboratory of Water-
Sediment Sciences and Water Disaster Prevention of Hunan Pro-
vince (2021SS08), Hunan Provincial Science and Technology Plan
Project (2018SK20410), and the Science and Technology Innova-
tion Program of Hunan Province (2020RC4014, 2019GK4004).
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2022.01.019.
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