Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Ferrara, Via Fossato di Mortara 17, 44121 Ferrara, Italy.
Advanced Polymer Materials, Via G. Saragat 9, 44122 Ferrara, Italy.
Waste Manag. 2017 Sep;67:385-391. doi: 10.1016/j.wasman.2017.05.020. Epub 2017 May 18.
Small plastic debris in sediments from five beaches were investigated to evaluate their occurrence and abundance in the Northern Adriatic coast for the first time. Plastic debris extracted from sediments were counted, weighted and identified by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). A total of 1345 items of debris (13.491g) were recorded, with a mean density of 12.1 items kg d.w. and 0.12gkg d.w. Fragments were the most frequent type of small plastics debris detected. In terms of abundance, microplastics (<5mm) accounted for 61% of debris, showing their wide distribution on Adriatic coasts, even far-away from densely populated areas. The majority of the polymers found were polyolefins: there were greater quantities of polyethylene and polypropylene compared to other types of plastic. Primary microplastics accounted for only 5.6% of the total plastic debris. There were greater quantities of microplastics at sites subjected to stronger riverine runoff. The results will provide useful background information for further investigations to understand the sink and sources of this emergent and priority contaminant.
首次对来自五个海滩的沉积物中的小塑料碎片进行了研究，以评估它们在亚得里亚海北部海岸的存在和丰度。从沉积物中提取的塑料碎片通过傅里叶变换红外光谱（FT-IR）进行计数、称重和鉴定。共记录了 1345 件碎片（13.491g），平均密度为 12.1 个/公斤干重，0.12g/kg 干重。碎片是检测到的最常见的小塑料碎片类型。就丰度而言，微塑料（<5mm）占碎片的 61%，表明它们在亚得里亚海海岸广泛分布，即使在远离人口密集区的地方也是如此。发现的大多数聚合物是聚烯烃：与其他类型的塑料相比，聚乙烯和聚丙烯的数量更多。原发性微塑料仅占总塑料碎片的 5.6%。在受更强河流径流影响的地点，微塑料的数量更多。这些结果将为进一步研究提供有用的背景信息，以了解这种新兴优先污染物的汇源。
