Plastic pollution in Swiss surface waters: nature and concentrations, interaction with pollutants

作者：Florian Faure, Colin Demars, Olivier Wieser, Manuel Kunz, Luiz Felippe De Alencastro · 发表于：Environmental Chemistry · 年份：2015 · DOI：10.1071/en14218 · 被引用次数：500 · 研究领域：Microplastics and Plastic Pollution、Recycling and Waste Management Techniques、Pharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental Impacts

Environmental context Plastic, and particularly microplastic, pollution is a growing environmental concern worldwide. Research regarding marine environments has led to a substantial increase in knowledge, yet little is known as regards the situation in freshwater environments. Although the occurrence of microplastics was demonstrated in Lake Geneva in 2012, the present research aims at confirming this pollution and expanding the data set for other lakes and environments of Switzerland. Abstract Marine microplastic (<5 mm) water pollution has met growing public and scientific interest in the last few years. The situation in freshwater environments remains largely unknown, although it appears that they play an important role as part of the origin of marine pollution. Apart from the physical impacts on biota, chemical effects are to be expected as well, especially with smaller particles. This study aims at assessing plastic abundance in Lakes Geneva, Constance, Neuchâtel, Maggiore, Zurich and Brienz, and identifying the nature of the particles, potential ingestion by birds and fishes, and the associated pollutants. Lake surface transects and a few rivers were sampled using a floating manta net, and beach sediments were analysed. Plastics were sorted by type (fragments, pellets, cosmetic beads, lines, fibres, films, foams) and composition (polypropylene, polyethylene, polystyrene, etc.); fish and water birds were dissected to assess their potential exposure, and analyses were con...