Microplastics in Abiotic Compartments of a Hypersaline Lacustrine Ecosystem.

The study of microplastics in inland water bodies has been growing recently, but there is still insufficient knowledge of the status of microplastics in lacustrine ecosystems, especially saline lakes. Studies have also been conducted on sediment, water, and biological compartments of lakes. In the present study, the status of microplastics in abiotic compartments of the saline Maharloo Lake (Iran) was evaluated for the first time and included surface sediment, lake salt, sludge, lake water, and wastewater.

Microplastics captured by snowfall: A study in Northern Iran.

Samples of fresh snow (n = 34) have been collected from 29 locations in various urban and remote regions of northern Iran following a period of sustained snowfall and the thawed contents examined for microplastics (MPs) according to established techniques. MP concentrations ranged from undetected to 86 MP L (mean and median concentrations ~20 MP and 12 MP L, respectively) and there was no significant difference in MP concentration between sample location type or between different depths of snow (or time of deposition) sampled at selected sites. Fibres were the dominant shape of MP and μ-Raman spectroscopy of selected samples revealed a variety of polymer types, with nylon most abundant.