Seasonal and Spatial Distribution of Microplastics in Surface Water of the Southern Branch of the Mekong River in Vietnam

Microplastic pollution recently received a lot of concern from scientists and policy-makers due to its ubiquity in all worldwide aquatic environments. In Vietnam, microplastics were observed in the aquatic environments from the terrestrial area to the sea. The Hau River system is one of the two important rivers in the Mekong River Delta in Vietnam. In this study, two sampling campaigns were conducted in July 2018 and February 2019 at three sites: an urban canal (Cai Khe Canal), a primary tributary of the Hau River flowing through the Can Tho City (Can Tho River), and the mainstream of the Hau River system to assess the abundance level of microplastics in surface water with the consideration on the seasonal and spatial distribution of microplastics. The results presented that microplastic concentration in the entire study area was 5.3 ± 4.2 items m−3 and there was no significant variation of microplastic abundance in seasonal and spatial trend. Important approaches to microplastic mitigation in this river system on a regional scale were also discussed.