Disturbances of MPs on nitrogen in surface water: A case study of Chinese water bodies in the past three years

IF 3.5 3区环境科学与生态学 Q2 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Journal of contaminant hydrology Pub Date : 2025-06-10 DOI:10.1016/j.jconhyd.2025.104642

Hao Liu, Liqing Li

{"title":"Disturbances of MPs on nitrogen in surface water: A case study of Chinese water bodies in the past three years","authors":"Hao Liu, Liqing Li","doi":"10.1016/j.jconhyd.2025.104642","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Microplastics (MPs) are ubiquitous in surface waters, yet their impact on nitrogen concentrations remains underexplored. This study investigates the relationship between MPs and both ammonia nitrogen (NH₃-N) and total nitrogen (TN) through statistical analysis. Over the past three years, NH₃-N concentrations in Chinese rivers have ranged from 0.02 to 3.18 mg/L, while TN concentrations have varied between 0.741 and 10.18 mg/L. The abundance of MPs in these waters ranges from 1.75 to 1450.011 items/L. Research indicates that MPs can promote ammonification, leading to an increase in NH₃-N accumulation by inhibiting nitrification and nitrogen assimilation processes. Conversely, MPs accelerate the removal of TN by enhancing denitrification activity. The results reveal that electrical conductivity (EC) is a key mediating factor in the impact of MPs on nitrogen in water bodies (standardized path coefficient: 0.521). For the first time, this study identifies a threshold effect for MPs in surface waters: a threshold of 3.854 items/L (<em>P</em> < 0.001) was determined, above which the efficiency of total nitrogen removal decreases. This research provides a theoretical foundation for understanding the impact of MPs on the nitrogen cycle in surface waters.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15530,"journal":{"name":"Journal of contaminant hydrology","volume":"274 ","pages":"Article 104642"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of contaminant hydrology","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169772225001470","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Microplastics (MPs) are ubiquitous in surface waters, yet their impact on nitrogen concentrations remains underexplored. This study investigates the relationship between MPs and both ammonia nitrogen (NH₃-N) and total nitrogen (TN) through statistical analysis. Over the past three years, NH₃-N concentrations in Chinese rivers have ranged from 0.02 to 3.18 mg/L, while TN concentrations have varied between 0.741 and 10.18 mg/L. The abundance of MPs in these waters ranges from 1.75 to 1450.011 items/L. Research indicates that MPs can promote ammonification, leading to an increase in NH₃-N accumulation by inhibiting nitrification and nitrogen assimilation processes. Conversely, MPs accelerate the removal of TN by enhancing denitrification activity. The results reveal that electrical conductivity (EC) is a key mediating factor in the impact of MPs on nitrogen in water bodies (standardized path coefficient: 0.521). For the first time, this study identifies a threshold effect for MPs in surface waters: a threshold of 3.854 items/L (P < 0.001) was determined, above which the efficiency of total nitrogen removal decreases. This research provides a theoretical foundation for understanding the impact of MPs on the nitrogen cycle in surface waters.

查看原文本刊更多论文

MPs对地表水氮的扰动：近三年来中国水体的个案研究

微塑料（MPs）在地表水中无处不在，但它们对氮浓度的影响仍未得到充分研究。本文通过统计分析研究了MPs与氨氮（NH₃-N）和总氮（TN）的关系。在过去的三年里，中国河流中NH₃-N的浓度在0.02到3.18毫克/升之间，而TN的浓度在0.741到10.18毫克/升之间。这些水域的MPs丰度为1.75至1450.011项/升。研究表明，MPs可以促进氨化作用，通过抑制硝化作用和氮同化过程，导致NH₃-N积累增加。相反，MPs通过增强反硝化活性来加速TN的去除。结果表明，电导率（EC）是MPs对水体氮影响的关键中介因子（标准化通径系数为0.521）。本研究首次确定了地表水MPs的阈值效应：阈值为3.854项/升(P <；0.001)，高于该值，总氮去除效率降低。本研究为了解MPs对地表水氮循环的影响提供了理论基础。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Journal of contaminant hydrology 环境科学-地球科学综合

CiteScore

6.80

自引率

2.80%

发文量

129

审稿时长

68 days

期刊介绍： The Journal of Contaminant Hydrology is an international journal publishing scientific articles pertaining to the contamination of subsurface water resources. Emphasis is placed on investigations of the physical, chemical, and biological processes influencing the behavior and fate of organic and inorganic contaminants in the unsaturated (vadose) and saturated (groundwater) zones, as well as at groundwater-surface water interfaces. The ecological impacts of contaminants transported both from and to aquifers are of interest. Articles on contamination of surface water only, without a link to groundwater, are out of the scope. Broad latitude is allowed in identifying contaminants of interest, and include legacy and emerging pollutants, nutrients, nanoparticles, pathogenic microorganisms (e.g., bacteria, viruses, protozoa), microplastics, and various constituents associated with energy production (e.g., methane, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide). The journal''s scope embraces a wide range of topics including: experimental investigations of contaminant sorption, diffusion, transformation, volatilization and transport in the surface and subsurface; characterization of soil and aquifer properties only as they influence contaminant behavior; development and testing of mathematical models of contaminant behaviour; innovative techniques for restoration of contaminated sites; development of new tools or techniques for monitoring the extent of soil and groundwater contamination; transformation of contaminants in the hyporheic zone; effects of contaminants traversing the hyporheic zone on surface water and groundwater ecosystems; subsurface carbon sequestration and/or turnover; and migration of fluids associated with energy production into groundwater.