Microplastic is a widespread pollutant in marine and fresh water systems. A major pathway by which microplastics end up in these systems is via storm water. Storm water is generated as precipitation drain off of impenetrable surfaces like paving. Microplastic analysis of storm water make up a good foundation for better understanding what sources and factors contribute to microplastic pollution in marine and fresh water systems. This study puts emphasis on characterization and quantification of microplastics through visual characterization. As visual characterization is a subjective form of analysis, the characterization was performed based on guidelines in order to minimize the risk of identifying false positives. The concentration of microplastic was found to be higher in the current study than in comparison to larger water bodies and storm water streams in less urban areas. Fragments, i.e. irregular shaped particles with the appearance of being broken from a larger piece of litter, were found to be the most abundant type of microplastics, pointing at littering as a major source of microplastics in storm water.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:oru-84460 |
| Date | January 2020 |
| Creators | Karlsson Sjögren, Isabelle |
| Publisher | Örebro universitet, Institutionen för naturvetenskap och teknik |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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