Degradation of ‘biodegradable’ wet wipes in their receiving urban rivers - Data

This dataset supports the manuscript titled <i>“</i><i>Degradation of ‘biodegradable’ wet wipes in their receiving urban rivers</i><i>”.</i><i> </i>The environmental fate of cellulose-based “biodegradable” wet wipes in freshwater ecosystems remains poorly understood, despite growing market demand and legislative shifts banning plastic-containing alternatives. This study builds on a previous mesocosm-based study to investigate the environmental persistence and microbial degradation of two commercially available cellulose-based biodegradable wet wipe brands. Research was conducted in urban rivers and streams around Cardiff, UK.Material degradation was assessed through tensile strength testing of both whole wipes and wipe strips, the latter sized to match standardised cotton strip bioassays also used as ecologically relevant controls. Tensile strength was measured using a Zwick/Roell Z050 testing machine with self-tightening roller grips (fixed pull rate: 20 cm/min; preload: 1 N; preload speed: 5 cm/min; initial grip separation: 11.61 cm).The dataset includes:Weekly water chemistry data (e.g., pH, total dissolved solids, temperature, light; River_Conditions.csv)Continuous environmental data (temperature, light intensity; Rivers_Dataloggers.csv)Tensile strength loss results across wipe materials (full-sized and strips) and time points (Rivers_Strips.csv<i>).</i>Tensile strength loss comparison to Metcalf et al. 2024 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.116175) converted using tensile strength loss per day equation. (Metcalf_converted_TSL_rates.csv).Data were collected over a five-week period between October and November 2024.An R script (Urban_Rivers_Code.R) is also provided to reproduce data processing, statistical analyses, and visualisation as described in the associated manuscript submitted for publication. Analyses were conducted using RStudio (version 4.3.1).

本数据集支撑题为《“可生物降解”湿巾在城市受纳河道中的降解行为》的研究论文。尽管市场需求持续增长且立法层面正逐步淘汰含塑料替代品，但纤维素基“可生物降解”湿巾在淡水生态系统中的环境归趋仍鲜有研究。本研究承接此前基于中宇宙（mesocosm）的相关研究，针对两款市售纤维素基可生物降解湿巾品牌的环境持久性与微生物降解特性展开研究，实验地点位于英国加的夫周边的城市河道与溪流中。通过对完整湿巾及湿巾试条进行拉伸强度测试以评估材料降解情况，其中试条尺寸与标准化棉条生物测定法所用试样一致，该棉条亦可作为生态相关对照。拉伸强度测试采用Zwick/Roell Z050试验机搭配自紧式辊轴夹具，测试参数设置为：拉伸速率20 cm/min、预加载力1 N、预加载速度5 cm/min、初始夹具间距11.61 cm。本数据集包含以下内容：1. 每周水体化学数据（如pH、总溶解固体、水温、光照强度等，存储于River_Conditions.csv）；2. 连续环境监测数据（水温、光照强度，存储于Rivers_Dataloggers.csv）；3. 不同时间节点下湿巾材料（完整湿巾与试条）的拉伸强度损失结果，存储于Rivers_Strips.csv；4. 基于每日拉伸强度损失公式转换得到的、与Metcalf等人2024年研究（https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.116175）的拉伸强度损失对比数据，存储于Metcalf_converted_TSL_rates.csv。数据采集时间为2024年10月至11月，为期五周。本数据集还附带一份R脚本（Urban_Rivers_Code.R），可复现已投稿相关论文中描述的数据处理、统计分析与可视化流程，分析工作基于RStudio（版本4.3.1）完成。