Microplastics in Freshwater River in Rio de Janeiro and Its Role as a Source of Microplastic Pollution in Guanabara Bay, SE Brazil
, Diego G. de Carvalho 1, Christine C. Gaylarde 2, Marcos F. P. Lourenço 3, Wilson T. V. Machado 3, Estefan M. da Fonseca 1, André Luiz Carvalho da Silva 4 and José Antônio Baptista Neto 1,*Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The manuscript ‘Microplastics in freshwater river in Rio de Janeiro: and its role as source of microplastic pollution in Guanabara Bay, SE Brazil ’ presented a meaningful work on the pollution levels of microplastics in Brazil. Here are some issues:
1. Some reference formats are not correct, e.g., Line 265, Line 298.
2. Resolution of tables can be improved.
3. The longitude and latitude of all sampling sites should be given.
4. Table 1, are there any data from other authors from Brazil? As a comparison between this study and other studies in Brazil is more meaningful to gain a better view of microplastics pollution in Brazil, instead of other countries.
5. There is no Discussion Section in this manuscript, therefore some important discussion are missing. e.g., The authors stated that ‘microplastics concentrations are correlated to the level of urbanization’ in abstract. More analysis is needed in the manuscript to support this idea.
6. Also, is there any possible strategies to reduce the amounts of microplastics released into the environment?
Author Response
Answer to Reviewer 1
- Some reference formats are not correct, e.g., Line 265, Line 298.
Answer: The format of the references are correct, what happens is that the reference receives its number the first time it appears, this way every time this reference is cited it appears with the same number.
- Resolution of tables can be improved.
Answer: done
- The longitude and latitude of all sampling sites should be given.
Answer: done, we created a new table with latitude and longitude
- Table 1, are there any data from other authors from Brazil? As a comparison between this study and other studies in Brazil is more meaningful to gain a better view of microplastics pollution in Brazil, instead of other countries.
Answer: Although several articles are being published on microplastics in Brazil in different aquatic environments, there is a large gap in relation to microplastics in surface waters in rivers, normally these studies are carried out in sediments
- There is no Discussion Section in this manuscript, therefore some important discussion are missing. e.g., The authors stated that ‘microplastics concentrations are correlated to the level of urbanization’ in abstract. More analysis is needed in the manuscript to support this idea.
Answer: The article presents two distinct studied areas, one highly urbanized, with a high demographic index and the another with a very low urbanization index, in addition to a low demographic index, and also being an area of environmental protection. I do not see the need for further studies on this, since these differences are very clear in the text. Furthermore, a greater discussion on this topic would change the objectives of the work, which is to understand sources of microplastics for Guanabara Bay. And it would greatly increase the length of the article, and it would get out of the main focus of the article. Since several authors have already demonstrated that urbanization is the main source of microplastic for the environment
- Also, is there any possible strategies to reduce the amounts of microplastics released into the environment?
Answer: I believe that all of humanity would like to propose changes in the production and availability of microplastics in the environment. However, in modern society, we will have to change production chains and drastically reduce the use of plastic. Which takes a lot of effort. And this is not part of the purpose of this article.
Reviewer 2 Report
Good article. Notes in the text.
Comments for author File: 
Comments.pdf
Author Response
Answer to Reviewer 2
We done all de corrections suggested by the Reviewer 2
Did you use any spectral database?
Answer: We used the Open Specy version 0.9.5 for the Spectra identification
- Cowger, W., Steinmetz, Z., Gray, A., Munno, K., Lynch, J., Hapich, H., Primpke, S., De Frond, H., Rochman, C., Herodotou, 545 O. “Microplastic Spectral Classification Needs an Open Source Community: Open Specy to the Rescue!” Analytical Chem- 546 istry, 2021. 93(21), 7543–7548. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.1c00123.
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
This manuscript can be accepted.
Reviewer 2 Report
All comments have been taken into account and corrected.
