Modeling the Fate and Transport of Plastic Debris in Freshwaters: Review and Guidance

Abstract

Contamination with plastic debris has been recognized as one of today's major environmental quality problems. Because most of the sources are land based, concerns are increasingly focused on the freshwater and terrestrial environment. Fate and transport models for plastic debris can complement information from measurements and will play an important role in the prospective risk assessment of plastic debris. We review the present knowledge with respect to fate and transport modeling of plastic debris in freshwater catchment areas, focusing especially on nano-and microplastics. Starting with a brief overview of theory and models for nonplastic particles, we discuss plastic-specific properties, processes, and existing mass-balance-, multimedia-, and spatiotemporally explicit fate models. We find that generally many theoretical and conceptual approaches from This chapter has been externally peer reviewed.The original version of this chapter was revised. An erratum to this chapter can be found at DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-61615-5_14. models developed earlier for other types of (low density) particles apply also to plastic debris. A unique feature of plastic debris, however, is its combination of high persistence, low density, and extremely wide size distribution, ranging from the nanometer to the >cm scale. This causes the system behavior of plastic debris to show a far wider variety than most other materials or chemicals. We provide recommendations for further development of these models and implications and guidance for how fate and transport models can be used in a framework for the tiered risk assessment of plastic debris.

Microplastics Are Contaminants of Emerging Concern in Freshwater Environments: An Overview

“…Transport to sediments and the formation of biofilms over the surface of MPs may also limit rates of degradation as this removes exposure to light. The modelling of MP fate and transportation in freshwaters is discussed further in Kooi et al [63], while MP-associated biofilm are discussed in Harrison et al [64].…”

“…This approach was further developed by Gottschalk et al [111] who used transfer coefficients to model emission flows between the different compartments used in their model, as well as the inclusion of sedimentation rates. Such modelling approaches (further discussed in Kooi et al [63]) could be used to assess the environmental fate of primary MPs where emissions to the environment are distributed across a geographical region proportional to population density and consumption rates, assuming that the route of enter into the environment depends on the use of the MP. However, this type of approach requires extensive information on primary MP production levels, industrial applications and uses, levels in consumer products, fate in wastewater treatment, discharges to landfill, and environmental fate and distribution modelling to perform a meaningful exposure assessment.…”

A review of possible pathways of marine microplastics transport in the ocean

“…Microplastic particle properties (e.g., particle density, shape, and size range) are expected to cause different behavior than is observed for natural particles (Zhang 2017;Kooi et al 2018). Recent laboratory experiments have been conducted to investigate the characteristics and settling behavior of microplastics with high density (Chubarenko et al 2016;Kowalski et al 2016).…”

Analysis, Occurrence, and Degradation of Microplastics in the Aqueous Environment

“…In most cases, aging of the polymer by environmental influences, such as photodegradation or chemical degradation of additives, changes the polymer properties and leads to embrittlement of the polymer [54]. The recalcitrant material is then shredded into smaller particles by friction forces occurring during the movement through different environmental habitats (also see Kooi et al [55] of this volume for a discussion on microplastics fate and transportation). This degradation generally leads to smaller plastic particles, which can result in particles with sizes between 1 and 5,000 μm.…”