S. Oswald (Stephanie)

Plastic pollution in freshwater systems, particularly in rivers, has become a growing
environmental concern as rivers transport significant amounts of land-based plastic to the oceans. Recent insights indicate that rivers may also act as long-term sinks for plastics, posing serious risks to freshwater species that are directly affected by plastic particles. My research focusses in quantify and characterize plastic pollution in Dutch river systems. To achieve this, I investigated the abundance and type of macro- and mesoplastics in the water column of several rivers in the Netherlands. Over multiple years, I assessed plastic concentrations, composition, and transport rates using various sampling techniques that allowed for depth-specific plastic sampling.