New insights into the distribution and interaction mechanism of microplastics with humic acid in river sediments

Information on the distribution and interaction of microplastics (MPs) and humic acids (HAs) in river sediment has not been fully explored. This study assessed the distribution and interaction of MPs with HAs at different depths in river sediments. The results delineated that the average abundance of MPs in the 0–10 cm layer (190 ± 20 items/kg) was significantly lower than that in the 11–20 cm and 21–30 cm layers (211 ± 10 items/kg and 238 ± 18 items/kg, respectively). Likewise, the large MP particles mainly existed in the 0–10 cm layer (31.53%–37.87%), while small MP particles were found in the 21–30 cm layers (73.23%–100%). Moreover, HAs in MPs showed a transformation from low molecular weight to high molecular weight with an increase in depth from 0-10 cm to 21–30 cm, which may contribute to the distribution of MPs in the river sediments. These results provide new insight into the migration of MP pollution in river sediments, but further research needs to assess the interaction of MP with HA for mitigating MP pollution in river sediment.