Occurrence and identification of microplastics along a beach in the Biosphere Reserve of Lanzarote

Edo, Carlos; Tamayo-Belda, Miguel; Martínez-Campos, Sergio; Martín-Betancor, Keila; González-Pleiter, Miguel; Pulido-Reyes, Gerardo; García-Ruiz, Carmen; Zapata, Félix; Leganés, Francisco; Fernández-Piñas, Francisca; Rossal S., J. Roberto

Occurrence and identification of microplastics along a beach in the Biosphere Reserve of Lanzarote

2019

This work studied the accumulation of plastic debris in a remote beach located in La Graciosa island (Chinijo archipelago, Canary Islands). Microplastics were sampled in the 1–5 mm mesh opening range. An average plastic density of 36.3 g/m2 was obtained with a large variability along the 90 m of the beach (from 8.5 g/m2 to 103.4 g/m2). Microplastic particles preferentially accumulated in the part of the beach protected by rocks. A total number of 9149 plastic particles were collected, recorded and measured, 87% of which corresponded to fragments. Clear colours and microscopic evidence of weathering corresponded to aged plastics wind-driven by the surface Canary Current. The chemical composition of plastics particles corresponded to PE (63%), PP (32%) and PS (3%). Higher PE/PP ratios were recorded in the more protected parts of the beach, suggesting preferential accumulation of more aged fragments.

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