Biofouling Effects on Microplastic Transport in Freshwater Models

Empirically supported guidelines for implementing biofouling in freshwater numerical microplastic transport models. The dataset includes measurements from a lab experiment on diverse microplastics, analyzing biofilm development based on polymer type, size, and shape. It was authored by Derk van Grootheest and last updated in April 2026.

Use Cases

• Parametrizing biofilm growth in transport models based on polymer type, size, and shape.
• Validating model assumptions for biofouling effects on particle vertical velocity.
• Determining when biofouling can be ignored in simulations based on particle diameter and simulation duration.
• Selecting between linear or exponential biofilm growth models for simulations under four months.

Strengths

• Provides specific, empirically measured net biofilm growth rates (0.061–0.170 μm per week).
• Offers clear thresholds for model simplification, such as ignoring biofouling for particles over 400 μm in short simulations.
• Data is derived from a controlled lab experiment using both mass-based and image-based analytical techniques.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect bias inherent to lab-controlled conditions rather than natural freshwater environments.

Provenance

Source

figshare

Collection Method

Lab experiment measuring biofilm development on microplastics using mass-based and image-based approaches.

Time Range

The experiment and model guidelines focus on a duration of less than four months.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-10 23:43:56; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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