The minimum
average microplastics pollution was found in the stretch between Basel and Mainz (202,900 particles per square kilometer), a medium average at Bad Honnef, Köln - Porz and Leverkusen (714,053) and the highest average in the Rhine - Ruhr metropolitan area (2,333,665).
Between Basel and Rotterdam, the Rhine has one of the highest
microplastics pollution so far measured in rivers, with the Rhine - Ruhr metropolitan area showing peak numbers of up to four times the
average.