The occurrence and distribution of microplastic contamination in Qara-sou river, Iran: incidence, quantification, and qualification

ABSTRACTIn the current study to investigate the characte – rization of Microplastic – released into the Qara-Sou river, Kermanshah, Iran, 12 sampling sites were surveyed along a 100 km stretch of the river. The maximum and minimum numbers of MPs were about 10,000 and 45,000 items per m3. The average concentration of MPs in the Qara-sou river was 23,666 ± 12147 items per m3. The dominant size and shape of MPs ranged from 0.025 to 1 mm (~44%) and fiber shapes (~78%). In addition, SEM-EDS analyses confirmed the presence of carbon-dominant peaks with O, Ca, Fe, Al, and Si. FTIR spectra have identified some MPs in the PVC, PU, PS, PE, and nylon polymer categories. A high level of MPs was discharged into the Qara-sou river, which should be attracting the attention of the community and decision-makers to reduce damage to the environment and human health.KEYWORDS: Microplasticwater pollutionriver pollutionpolymer Disclosure statementThe author declares that (s)he has no relevant or material financial interests that relate to the research described in this paper.Authors contributionsAll authors (Hadis Fattahi, Nezam Mirzaei, Amin Bagheri, Leila Ravanyar, Mohammad Ahmadpour, Pouran Makhdoumi, Meghdad Pirsaheb, Shohreh Heshmati, Edris Hoseinzadeh, Kosar Ahmadi, Ronak Abdulazeez Meshabaz, Hooshyar Hossini, Thomas Franzem) have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.Ethical ApprovalEthical issues (including plagiarism, informed consent, misconduct, data fabrication and/or falsification, double publication and/or submission, redundancy, etc.) have been completely observed by the authors. The Ethics code of this study was IR.KUMS.REC.1399.069.Additional informationFundingThe authors gratefully acknowledge the Research Council of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences [Grant Number: 990094] for financial support.