Changes in characteristics and risk of freshwater microplastics under global warming

Microplastics present a significant threat to freshwater ecosystems. However, the impact of global warming on their characteristics and associated risks remains uncertain. This study collected 2793 sample sites from literature and datasets to create a new risk assessment and rank methodology, known as the Multi-characteristics Potential Ecological Risk Index (MPERI), which incorporates various microplastic characteristics, such as concentration, size distribution, color, shape, and polymer diversity. Using regression random forest models (RRF), this study predicted that a 10 °C increase would raise microplastic concentration from 12,465.34 ± 68,603.87 to 13,387.17 ± 60,692.96 particles/m3. The percentage of small-size microplastics initially decreased (from 69.10 % to 68.72 %) and then increased (from 68.72 % to 68.78 %), while the diversity of color, shape, and polymer decreased by 0.29 %, 3.24 %, and 0.17 %, respectively. Furthermore, global warming could increase the rank of microplastic risks from high (405.25 ± 528.9) to dangerous (535.37 ± 582.03) based on the MPERI method. Most countries would experience an increase in risk values, with Indonesia and Vietnam transitioning from low to medium risk, and China and Malaysia transitioning from high to dangerous risk. The feature importance assessment of the RRF model indicated that concentration was the most influential variable in determining the change in risk values. While other microplastic characteristics had a lesser impact compared to concentration, they still influenced the risk ranking. This study highlights the role of global warming in shaping microplastic risks.

Microplastic diversity stimulates N2O emission during NO3--N transformation by altering microbial interaction and electron consumption in eutrophic water

Microplastic mixtures, consisting of various types, are widespread in aquatic ecosystems. However, the role of microplastic diversity in influencing N2O emission during NO3--N transformation remains unclear, particularly in eutrophic water bodies. To address this, we established 10 microcosms with microplastic diversity of 0, 1, 3, and 5 and explored the effects of microplastic diversity on NO3--N transformation, N2O emission, microbial communities, co-occurrence networks, and electron transfer. Results showed that microplastic diversity slightly impacted NO3--N transformation rates, but remarkably enhanced N2O emission. Although elevated microplastic diversity caused notable variations in microbial community, bacterial abundance had insignificant correlations with NO3--N transformation or N2O emission rates. Notably, the increased microplastic diversity made microbial networks more complex and stable, indirectly promoting N2O emission by altering electron transfer and consumption during NO3--N transformation. Especially, electron consumption had the most direct effect on N2O emission. Furthermore, the increasing microplastic diversity slightly affected NOR activity, while significantly decreasing NOS activity and raising (nirK+nirS)/nosZ ratio, which suggested that microplastic diversity primarily enhanced N2O emission by inhibiting its further reduction. Our findings provide deeper insight into the nitrogen transformation and greenhouse gas emission influenced by microplastic mixtures in eutrophic aquatic environments.