The Anzali Wetland microplastic risk profile: A culminating assessment
REGIONAL STUDIES IN MARINE SCIENCE, cilt.101, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 101
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.1016/j.rsma.2026.105233
- Dergi Adı: REGIONAL STUDIES IN MARINE SCIENCE
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, BIOSIS, Zoological Record
- Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Conventional risk assessments for microplastics, which rely on concentration-based metrics, often fail to capture the multidimensional nature of ecological threats and can produce misleading results. To address this limitation, we applied an integrated multi-index framework to the Anzali Wetland, a Ramsar-listed site under significant anthropogenic pressure. This study integrates the Pollution Load Index (PLI) to quantify cumulative pollution load, the modified Contamination Factor (mCF) to evaluate contamination intensity, the Polymer Hazard Index (PHI) to assess polymer-associated chemical hazards, and the Microplastic Diversity Integrated Index (MDII) to characterize polymer compositional diversity. Our results demonstrate that different dimensions of microplastic risk exhibit distinct spatial patterns. Hotspots of contamination load (high PLI) were spatially incongruous with hotspots of polymer-associated chemical hazard (high PHI). For instance, the Zarjoub River exhibited the highest pollution load, whereas the Siahkeshim region, despite only moderate contamination levels, presented the highest polymer-associated hazard. By integrating complementary dimensions of contamination and hazard, this study provides a robust framework for identifying priority management areas and developing spatially targeted mitigation strategies for vulnerable freshwater ecosystems.