Aaron Lechner, Hubert Keckeis, Franz Lumesberger-Loisl, Bernhard Zens,
Reinhard Krusch, Michael Tritthart, Martin Glas, Elisabeth Schludermann,
The Danube so colourful: A potpourri of plastic litter outnumbers fish
larvae in Europe's second largest river, Environmental Pollution, Volume
188, May 2014, Pages 177-181, ISSN 0269-7491,
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2014.02.006.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749114000475)
Abstract: Previous studies on plastic pollution of aquatic ecosystems
focused on the world's oceans. Large rivers as major pathways for
land-based plastic litter, has received less attention so far. Here we
report on plastic quantities in the Austrian Danube. A two year survey
(2010, 2012) using stationary driftnets detected mean plastic abundance
(n = 17,349; mean ± S.D: 316.8 ± 4664.6 items per 1000 m−3) and
mass
(4.8 ± 24.2 g per 1000 m−3) in the river to be higher than those of
drifting larval fish (n = 24,049; 275.3 ± 745.0 individuals. 1000 m−3
and 3.2 ± 8.6 g 1000 m−3). Industrial raw material (pellets, flakes and
spherules) accounted for substantial parts (79.4%) of the plastic
debris. The plastic input via the Danube into the Black Sea was
estimated to 4.2 t per day.
Keywords: Plastic debris; Freshwater pollution; Black Sea; Industrial
plastics; Drift

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749114000475/pdfft?md5=ed81c3d10349bab5f149358ac081b003&pid=1-s2.0-S0269749114000475-main.pdf