Microplastic Pollution in Manchester

Article Written By: Minjun Woo

The Great Manchester River in Manchester, England, shows the world's worst level of microplastic contamination. Denton's Tame River is a more polluted Northwest England waterway than Hong Kong and South Korea.

The microplastics are believed to contain microbeads, microfibers and plastic debris flowing into industrial wastewater, domestic wastewater, stormwater, and rivers. This plastic can contaminate water quality. Fishes or marine animals could eat this plastic and be killed by the harmful plastics, which could conclude to humans eating polluted fishes from plastic through the food chain system.

The researchers resampled the contaminated area again after the flood, but in most cases, the level of contamination was reduced and nearly 70% of the microfine plastics stored in the river bed were removed due to flooding. This shows that flood-like disasters can transport large amounts of microplastics from small rivers to the sea and lead to pollution of river and ocean. As microplastics are toxic and can enter the ocean, english studies have suggested that wastewater treatment should be strengthened to prevent the pollution of water.

Bibliography (MLA 8 FORMAT):

Website Citations:

Website 1:

Jane Dalton @JournoJane. “A Manchester River Has the Worst Microplastic Problem Ever Recorded, Study Discovers.” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 13 Mar. 2018, www.independent.co.uk/environment/greater-manchester-river-tame-microplastic-pollution-worst-ever-university-study-a8248576.html.

Photo Citations:

Photo 1:

Hartley-Parkinson, Richard. “UK River Has Highest Recorded Levels of Microplastic Pollution in the World.” Metro, Metro.co.uk, 13 Mar. 2018, metro.co.uk/2018/03/13/manchester-river-highest-recorded-levels-microplastic-pollution-world-7382484/.