River plastic transport and storage budget.

Rivers are one of the main conduits that deliver plastic from land into the sea, and also act as reservoirs for plastic retention. Yet, our understanding of the extent of river exposure to plastic pollution remains limited. In particular, there has been no comprehensive quantification of the contributions from different river compartments, such as the water surface, water column, riverbank and floodplain to the overall river plastic transport and storage.

Defining plastic pollution hotspots.

Plastic pollution in the natural environment poses a growing threat to ecosystems and human health, prompting urgent needs for monitoring, prevention and clean-up measures, and new policies. To effectively prioritize resource allocation and mitigation strategies, it is key to identify and define plastic hotspots. UNEP's draft global agreement on plastic pollution mandates prioritizing hotspots, suggesting a potential need for a defined term.

River export of macro- and microplastics to seas by sources worldwide.

Seas are polluted with macro- (>5 mm) and microplastics (<5 mm). However, few studies account for both types when modeling water quality, thus limiting our understanding of the origin (e.g.

Macroplastic concentrations in the water column of the river Rhine increase with higher discharge.

Riverine macroplastic pollution (>0.5 cm) negatively impacts ecosystems and human livelihoods. Monitoring data are crucial for understanding this issue and for the design of effective interventions strategies.

Deep learning for detecting macroplastic litter in water bodies: A review.

Plastic pollution in water bodies is an unresolved environmental issue that damages all aquatic environments, and causes economic and health problems. Accurate detection of macroplastic litter (plastic items >5 mm) in water is essential to estimate the quantities, compositions and sources, identify emerging trends, and design preventive measures or mitigation strategies. In recent years, researchers have demonstrated the potential of computer vision (CV) techniques based on deep learning (DL) for automated detection of macroplastic litter in water bodies.

Future microplastics in the Black Sea: River exports and reduction options for zero pollution.

The Black Sea receives increasing amounts of microplastics from rivers. In this study, we explore options to reduce future river export of microplastics to the Black Sea. We develop five scenarios with different reduction options and implement them to a Model to Assess River Inputs of pollutaNts to seA (MARINA-Global) for 107 sub-basins.

Disentangling Variability in Riverbank Macrolitter Observations.

Anthropogenic macrolitter (>0.5 cm) in rivers is of increasing concern. It has been found to have an adverse effect on riverine ecosystem health, and the livelihoods of the communities depending on and living next to these ecosystems.