TABLE D-1 Peer-reviewed Studies in Which Plastic Waste Was Measured in Estuaries and Rivers of the United States
| Study | Locale | Sampling Dates | Environmental Matrix (N = number of sites) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moore, Lattin, and Zellers 2011 | Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers | Two occupations: Nov 22 or Dec 28, 2004, and Apr 11, 2005 | Surface, mid-depth, and bottom samples (N = 3, two occupations) |
| Yonkos et al. 2014 Bikker et al. 2020 | Chesapeake Bay Chesapeake Bay | ~Monthly between July and Dec 2011 Single occupation collected Aug 31–Sep 18, 2015 | 4 estuarine tributaries, surface water (N = 60) Estuary surface water (N = 30) |
| Davis and Murphy 2015 McCormick et al. 2016 | Salish Sea & Inside Passage (WA) 9 rivers in Chicago metropolitan area (IL, IN) | 2011 (N = 62), 2012 (N = 15) Single occupation collected July 10–Oct 13, 2014 | Estuary surface water (N = 77) Stream surface water (N = 9, each site with 4 replicates at both locations upstream and downstream of wastewater treatment plant [WWTP] outfall site) |
| Hoellein et al. 2017 | North Shore Channel (urban waterway, Chicago, IL) | Aug 7, 2017 | Channel surface water and benthic sediment (N = 5, 4 replicates of each sample type at each location) |
| Baldwin, Corsi, and Mason 2016 | 29 Great Lakes tributaries (6 states) | Apr 2014–Apr 2015, each tributary sampled 3–4 times | Surface water (N = 107) |
| Sutton et al. 2016 | San Francisco Bay | Single occupation collected on 2 days in Jan 2015 | Estuary surface water (N = 9) |
| Sutton et al. 2019 | San Francisco Bay and Tomales Bay | Two occupations (wet/dry conditions) | Estuary surface water (N = 17) and sediments (N = 20) |
| Miller et al. 2017 | Hudson River (NY) | Single occupation collected in June and Oct 2016 | River surface water (N = 142) |
| Sampling Method | Abundance, as Reported | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Manta net and hand nets (0.333- to 0.8-mm mesh) | 0 to 12,932 particles/m3; 0 to 121 g/m3 | Sampled during dry period (Nov/Dec) and within 24 hours of 0.25 in. of rainfall (Apr) |
| Manta net (0.3-mm mesh) Manta net (0.33-mm mesh) | From <1.0 to >560 g/km2 0.007 to 1.245 particles/m3 | Peaks in abundance after major storm events Not all particles were plastic Polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP) most common plastics found |
| Manta net (0.335-mm mesh) Neuston net (0.333-mm mesh) | 0 to >130,000 particles/km2 0.48 (±0.09) to 11.22 (±1.53) particles/m3 | Samples dominated by expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam Highly variable particle flux between sites; mainly PE, PP, polystyrene (PS); 7 of 9 sites had higher concentrations downstream of WWTP effluent |
| Neuston net (0.333 mm), Ponar grab (~0.75–1 L sediment) | 1.67 particles/m3 to 10.36 particles/m3 (water); 36 to 1,613 particles/L (sediment) | Much higher microplastic abundance in sediment than in surface water; microplastic abundance in water did not vary with increasing distance downstream of WWTP outfall |
| Neuston net (0.333-mm mesh) | 0.05 to 32 particles/m3 | Plastics found in all samples. Majority were fibers/lines whose concentrations were not related to watershed attributes or hydrological processes |
| Manta net (0.333-mm mesh) | 15,000 to 2,000,000 particles/km2 | Abundances higher in southern bay than central bay |
| Manta net (0.335-mm mesh), 1-L water grab sample, pumped water sample, sediment grab | 2,400 to 6,200,000 particles/km2 in surface water; 0.5 to 60 particles/g dry weight | Abundances include microplastics and other microparticles. Surface water samples collected in the wet season had higher concentrations of microplastics than in the dry season. |
| Water grab samples, filtered on 0.45-μm filter | 0 to 12.37 microfibers/L | Abundances include microplastics and other microfibers |
| Study | Locale | Sampling Dates | Environmental Matrix (N = number of sites) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gray et al. 2018 | Charleston Harbor, Winyah Bay (SC) | Single occupation | Sea surface microlayer (N = 12), intertidal sediment (N = 10) |
| Barrows et al. 2018 | Gallatin River basin (MT, WY) | Sept 2015–June 2017 | River surface water (N = 714, occupied seasonally over 2 years at 72 sites) |
| Kapp and Yeatman 2018 | Snake River (WY, ID, OR, WA) | 5 repeated sampling periods between June and Aug 2015 | River surface water |
| Cohen et al. 2019 | Delaware Bay | Apr 21, 28, 2017, and June 12, 13, 2017 | Estuary surface water (N = 16, occupied once in Apr and once in June) |
| McEachern et al. 2019 | Tampa Bay (FL) | 1–5 months between samples from June 2016 to July 2017 (water); Single occupation, Mar 21–23, 2017 (sediment) | Surface water (N = 24; 2 methods), sediment (N = 9) |
| Lenaker et al. 2019 | Milwaukee River Basin | 5 sampling trips, May to Sept 2016 (water sampling); June 2016 (sediment) | Stream/river/estuary surface water and subsurface water (N = 96), sediment (N = 9) |
| Christensen et al. 2020 | Blacksburg, VA region | Single occupation on June 21, 2018 and Aug 31, 2018 | River bed, banks, and floodplain sediment from 3 rivers (N = 14) |
| Bailey et al. 2021 | Raritan River and Raritan Bay (NJ) | July 26, 2018 (low flow), Apr 11, 2019 (moderate flow), Apr 16, 2019 (high flow) | River and estuary surface water (N = 14, some duplicates) |
| Sampling Method | Abundance, as Reported | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 4-L sea surface microlayer samples; top 2 cm of sediment in quadrats | 0 to 1195.7 ± 193.9 particles/m2 in sediment; 3 to 88 particles/L in water | High abundance of suspected tire wear particles (Charleston Harbor) |
| ~1-L water samples | 0 to 67.5 particles/L | Majority of particles were fibers (80%); microplastic concentration inversely related to river discharge |
| 1.85-L water samples (N = 28); net samples (0.100-mm mesh) (N = 28) | 0 to 5.405 particles/L (bulk water samples); 0 to 13.701 particles/m3 (net samples) | |
| Ring plankton net (0.2-mm mesh) | 0.19 to 1.24 particles/m3 | High spatial/temporal variability |
| 1-L water samples; plankton net (0.33-mm mesh); Shipek grab for sediment | 0 to 7.0 particles/L (bulk water samples); 1.2 to 18.1 particles/m3 (net tow samples); 30 to 790 particles/kg (sediment) | |
| Neuston net (0.333-mm mesh); Circular net (0.333-mm) for subsurface; spoons for sediment | 0.21 to 19.1 particles/m3 at surface; 0.06 to 4.3 particles/m3 subsurface; 32.9 to 6,229 particles/kg dry weight sediment | Concentration of low-density particles decreased with depth; concentration of high-density particles increased with depth |
| Hand trowel (40 cm × 40 cm area × 4 cm depth) | Averages by site ranged from 17 particles/kg to 180 particles/kg; | Average concentration was as high or higher in floodplain than in stream channel, and average particle size was also larger |
| Plankton net (0.080- or 0.150-mm mesh) | 0 to 2.75 particles/m3 for 500–2,000 μm size class; 0.38 to 4.71 particles/m3 for 250–500 μm size class |
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