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Studying the Concentration of Microplastic Particles in Water, Bottom Sediments and Subsoils in the Coastal Area of the Neva Bay, the Gulf of Finland

  • HYDROCHEMISTRY, HYDROBIOLOGY: ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS
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Abstract

The concentration of microplastic particles (with size from 100 µm to 5 mm) and their chemistry were studied in water, subsoils and sediments in the coastal area of the Neva Bay, the Gulf of Finland. The characteristics determined in the study were the dominating shapes of the particles, their size range, polymer chemistry and concentrations in different media, i.e., in water, bottom sediments, and coastal subsoils. Microplastic concentrations in bottom sediments and coastal subsoils are far in excess of their concentration in water mass. The spatial distribution of microplastic particles was studied in water, coastal subsoils, and bottom sediments of the Neva Bay, the Gulf of Finland. Microplastic concentration at the water edge was found to decrease with the distance from St. Petersburg City and Neva mouth, along either the northern or the southern coast. After reaching the Gulf of Finland, the Neva water, polluted by microplastic particles, is diluted and continues moving and distributing in accordance with the dominating westward hydrodynamic transport.

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Funding

This study was carried out under Governmental Order to the Institute of Limnology, Russian Academy of Sciences (subject no. 0154-2019-0003, Development of Integrated Methods for Studying and Evaluating the Characteristics of Solid Particles at Nanoscale Size in Water Bodies Subject to Different Anthropogenic Load).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Limnology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 196105, St. Petersburg, Russia

    Sh. R. Pozdnyakov, E. V. Ivanova, A. V. Guzeva, K. D. Martinson & D. A. Tikhonova

  2. St. Petersburg State University, 119034, St. Petersburg, Russia

    E. P. Shalunova

Authors
  1. Sh. R. Pozdnyakov
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  2. E. V. Ivanova
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  3. A. V. Guzeva
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  4. E. P. Shalunova
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  5. K. D. Martinson
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  6. D. A. Tikhonova
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Sh. R. Pozdnyakov or E. V. Ivanova.

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Translated by G. Krichevets

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Pozdnyakov, S.R., Ivanova, E.V., Guzeva, A.V. et al. Studying the Concentration of Microplastic Particles in Water, Bottom Sediments and Subsoils in the Coastal Area of the Neva Bay, the Gulf of Finland. Water Resour 47, 599–607 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0097807820040132

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0097807820040132

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