Microplastics Flowing into Lake Winnipeg: Densities, Sources, Flux, and Fish Exposures
Microplastics (plastic particles < 5.0 mm in diameter) have been detected in freshwater ecosystems worldwide. Recently, surface concentrations of microplastics in Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba were shown to be comparable to those observed in Lake Erie, Ontario, despite large differences between the lak...
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Proceedings of Manitoba's Undergraduate Science and Engineering Research
2018
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ftunivmanitobao2:oai:ojs.ojs.lib.umanitoba.ca:article/578 2024-09-15T18:19:07+00:00 Microplastics Flowing into Lake Winnipeg: Densities, Sources, Flux, and Fish Exposures Warrack, Sarah Challis, Jonathan K. Hanson, Mark L. Rennie, Michael D. 2018-01-01 application/pdf application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document https://ojs.lib.umanitoba.ca/index.php/pmuser/article/view/Warrack-et-al https://doi.org/10.5203/pmuser.201730578 eng eng Proceedings of Manitoba's Undergraduate Science and Engineering Research https://ojs.lib.umanitoba.ca/index.php/pmuser/article/view/Warrack-et-al/616 https://ojs.lib.umanitoba.ca/index.php/pmuser/article/view/Warrack-et-al/754 https://ojs.lib.umanitoba.ca/index.php/pmuser/article/view/Warrack-et-al/755 https://ojs.lib.umanitoba.ca/index.php/pmuser/article/view/Warrack-et-al doi:10.5203/pmuser.201730578 Copyright (c) 2017 S. Warrack, J. K. Challis, M. L. Hanson, M. D. Rennie Proceedings of Manitoba's Undergraduate Science and Engineering Research; Vol. 3 (2017): PMUSER 2561-1135 2561-1127 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Peer-reviewed Article 2018 ftunivmanitobao2 https://doi.org/10.5203/pmuser.201730578 2024-07-31T03:15:58Z Microplastics (plastic particles < 5.0 mm in diameter) have been detected in freshwater ecosystems worldwide. Recently, surface concentrations of microplastics in Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba were shown to be comparable to those observed in Lake Erie, Ontario, despite large differences between the lakes in terms of population density and industrial activity. To better understand potential sources of microplastics into Lake Winnipeg, two inflowing tributaries (the Red and Assiniboine rivers) and the lake outflow (the Nelson River) were sampled for microplastics. To determine the role of wastewater treatment plants in contributing to microplastic pollution, microplastic densities upstream and downstream of wastewater treatment plants in the city of Winnipeg were compared. Finally, to determine the bioavailability of microplastics to fishes, we evaluated the presence of microplastics in the gastrointestinal tracts of two fish species, common carp (Cyprinus carpio) and sauger (Sander canadensis) collected from the Red River. Microplastics in the Red and Assiniboine rivers were comparable to those from Great Lake tributaries, but were elevated four to six times relative to concentrations observed in the Nelson River, suggesting significant losses to settling in Lake Winnipeg. On average, densities of microplastics downstream of wastewater treatment plants were elevated, and a significant correlation was observed between standardized daily effluent discharge from Winnipeg and river flux of microplastics/m2/s. On average, sauger were found to contain one microplastic particle and carp were found to contain seven microplastics within their gastrointestinal tracts. The number of particles ingested did not appear to affect body condition of fish collected in this study. Article in Journal/Newspaper Nelson River OPEN JOURNAL SYSTEMS @ UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA LIBRARIES |
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OPEN JOURNAL SYSTEMS @ UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA LIBRARIES |
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ftunivmanitobao2 |
language |
English |
description |
Microplastics (plastic particles < 5.0 mm in diameter) have been detected in freshwater ecosystems worldwide. Recently, surface concentrations of microplastics in Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba were shown to be comparable to those observed in Lake Erie, Ontario, despite large differences between the lakes in terms of population density and industrial activity. To better understand potential sources of microplastics into Lake Winnipeg, two inflowing tributaries (the Red and Assiniboine rivers) and the lake outflow (the Nelson River) were sampled for microplastics. To determine the role of wastewater treatment plants in contributing to microplastic pollution, microplastic densities upstream and downstream of wastewater treatment plants in the city of Winnipeg were compared. Finally, to determine the bioavailability of microplastics to fishes, we evaluated the presence of microplastics in the gastrointestinal tracts of two fish species, common carp (Cyprinus carpio) and sauger (Sander canadensis) collected from the Red River. Microplastics in the Red and Assiniboine rivers were comparable to those from Great Lake tributaries, but were elevated four to six times relative to concentrations observed in the Nelson River, suggesting significant losses to settling in Lake Winnipeg. On average, densities of microplastics downstream of wastewater treatment plants were elevated, and a significant correlation was observed between standardized daily effluent discharge from Winnipeg and river flux of microplastics/m2/s. On average, sauger were found to contain one microplastic particle and carp were found to contain seven microplastics within their gastrointestinal tracts. The number of particles ingested did not appear to affect body condition of fish collected in this study. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Warrack, Sarah Challis, Jonathan K. Hanson, Mark L. Rennie, Michael D. |
spellingShingle |
Warrack, Sarah Challis, Jonathan K. Hanson, Mark L. Rennie, Michael D. Microplastics Flowing into Lake Winnipeg: Densities, Sources, Flux, and Fish Exposures |
author_facet |
Warrack, Sarah Challis, Jonathan K. Hanson, Mark L. Rennie, Michael D. |
author_sort |
Warrack, Sarah |
title |
Microplastics Flowing into Lake Winnipeg: Densities, Sources, Flux, and Fish Exposures |
title_short |
Microplastics Flowing into Lake Winnipeg: Densities, Sources, Flux, and Fish Exposures |
title_full |
Microplastics Flowing into Lake Winnipeg: Densities, Sources, Flux, and Fish Exposures |
title_fullStr |
Microplastics Flowing into Lake Winnipeg: Densities, Sources, Flux, and Fish Exposures |
title_full_unstemmed |
Microplastics Flowing into Lake Winnipeg: Densities, Sources, Flux, and Fish Exposures |
title_sort |
microplastics flowing into lake winnipeg: densities, sources, flux, and fish exposures |
publisher |
Proceedings of Manitoba's Undergraduate Science and Engineering Research |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://ojs.lib.umanitoba.ca/index.php/pmuser/article/view/Warrack-et-al https://doi.org/10.5203/pmuser.201730578 |
genre |
Nelson River |
genre_facet |
Nelson River |
op_source |
Proceedings of Manitoba's Undergraduate Science and Engineering Research; Vol. 3 (2017): PMUSER 2561-1135 2561-1127 |
op_relation |
https://ojs.lib.umanitoba.ca/index.php/pmuser/article/view/Warrack-et-al/616 https://ojs.lib.umanitoba.ca/index.php/pmuser/article/view/Warrack-et-al/754 https://ojs.lib.umanitoba.ca/index.php/pmuser/article/view/Warrack-et-al/755 https://ojs.lib.umanitoba.ca/index.php/pmuser/article/view/Warrack-et-al doi:10.5203/pmuser.201730578 |
op_rights |
Copyright (c) 2017 S. Warrack, J. K. Challis, M. L. Hanson, M. D. Rennie |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5203/pmuser.201730578 |
_version_ |
1810457206911401984 |