River plastic measurements in the Rhine, Odaw and Mekong 2021-2022

We measured floating plastic in the Rhine (Netherlands to Switzerland), Odaw (Ghana) and Mekong (Cambodia) rivers using visual counting from bridges. We also measured riverbank and terrestrial plastic density in the Odaw river through physical sampling and classification.<br>We measured river plastic pollution in three rivers across relevant gradients, including geography, hydrology, and plastic pollution levels. In the Rhine basin (Switzerland, France, Germany, the Netherlands) we showed that urban areas and tributaries may act as entry points of plastic pollution. For the Odaw basin (Ghana) we compared floating, terrestrial and riverbank plastics, identifying source and accumulation zones. Finally, in the Mekong river (Cambodia) we quantified the contribution of the city of Phnom Penh to plastic pollution through quantifying the plastic mass balance in the Mekong-Tonle Sap-Bassac region.<br>

本研究通过桥梁目视计数法，对莱茵河（荷兰至瑞士段）、加纳奥达河以及柬埔寨湄公河中的漂浮塑料开展了定量测定。同时，通过物理采样与分类手段，测定了奥达河河岸及陆地塑料的密度。
本研究针对三条河流，在地理、水文、塑料污染水平等相关梯度维度上开展了河流塑料污染调查。在莱茵河流域（覆盖瑞士、法国、德国与荷兰），研究证实城市区域与支流可作为塑料污染的输入端口；在加纳奥达河流域，本研究对比了漂浮塑料、陆地塑料与河岸塑料的分布特征，明确了塑料污染的源区与堆积区；在柬埔寨湄公河流域，本研究通过量化湄公河-洞里萨湖-巴萨河区域的塑料质量平衡，定量分析了金边市对塑料污染的贡献。