Plastic Characterization in Sediment Along the Bow River Near Calgary, Alberta

Macro- and microplastics are a pervasive anthropogenic pollutant in aquatic environments. My exploratory research quantified and characterized macro- and microplastic contamination in shoreline sediments along the Bow River in Calgary, Alberta, and identified trends in their abundance and distribution. Sediment samples were collected from eight sites along banks of the Bow River. At each site, 1 kg of wet sediment was obtained then filtered, dried, and mixed into 100 g dry-weight subsamples. Natural debris were removed using hydrogen peroxide, and microplastics were extracted from sediment using NaCl density flotation. Macroplastics were collected along a 10 m transect deployed parallel to the shoreline at the same eight sites. Microplastics were detected in all samples. A total of 93 microplastics were detected, with an average of 11.6 pieces/100 g sample. The most frequent microplastic shape (type) was fiber (n=52), followed by fragment (n=26), foam (n=14), and round (n=1). A two-tailed t-test (p-value <0.01) and linear regression (r2 value of 0.68) showed a statistically significant difference in microplastic concentrations downstream compared to upstream sites. For macroplastics, a total of 826 individual pieces of macroplastic debris were collected from all sites. Most pieces were identified as single-use plastics. A two-tailed t-test (p-value of 0.24) and linear regression (r2 value of 0.32) suggested a weak relationship between macroplastic concentrations downstream compared to upstream.

Author dc:creator

• Murphy, Liam

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Kool, Rick

• School of environment and sustainability

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Identifier URI

https://doi.org/10.25316/ir-19764

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:null:10613/28148