of microplastics around 12,932 items per m
3 . On the other hand, lakes have lower
amounts of microplastics than rivers, which may be mainly due to the currents.
Figure 1.8 represents the microplastic abundance and distribution in Africa; there
is a great lack of data and studies on microplastics in fresh water. Nel et al. (2018)
Fig. 1.7 Abundance of microplastics in sediment and water samples from different freshwater
systems, i.e., rivers or lakes, across North America. The abundances present in sediments are
expressed in items per m
2
, items per km
2
, or items per kg, while the abundances in water are
expressed in items per m
3 (Sources of data: Anderson et al. (2017), Ballent et al. (2016), Castañeda
et al. (2014), Corcoran et al. (2015), Eriksen et al. (2013), McCormick et al. (2014), Moore et al.
(2011). Source of figure: Original production)
14
V. Godoy et al.
3 . On the other hand, lakes have lower
amounts of microplastics than rivers, which may be mainly due to the currents.
Figure 1.8 represents the microplastic abundance and distribution in Africa; there
is a great lack of data and studies on microplastics in fresh water. Nel et al. (2018)
Fig. 1.7 Abundance of microplastics in sediment and water samples from different freshwater
systems, i.e., rivers or lakes, across North America. The abundances present in sediments are
expressed in items per m
2
, items per km
2
, or items per kg, while the abundances in water are
expressed in items per m
3 (Sources of data: Anderson et al. (2017), Ballent et al. (2016), Castañeda
et al. (2014), Corcoran et al. (2015), Eriksen et al. (2013), McCormick et al. (2014), Moore et al.
(2011). Source of figure: Original production)
14
V. Godoy et al.