Blettler Martin C M, Ulla Maria Alicia, Rabuffetti Ana Pia, Garello Nicolás
Instituto Nacional de Limnología (INALI; CONICET-UNL), Ciudad Universitaria, 3000, Santa Fe, Argentina.
Institute of Research on Catalysis and Petrochemistry, INCAPE (FIQ, UNL-CONICET), Santiago del Estero 2829, 3000, Santa Fe, Argentina.
Environ Monit Assess. 2017 Oct 23;189(11):581. doi: 10.1007/s10661-017-6305-8.
Plastic pollution is considered an important environmental problem by the United Nations Environment Programme, and it is identified, alongside climate change, as an emerging issue that might affect biological diversity and human health. However, despite research efforts investigating plastics in oceans, relatively little studies have focused on freshwater systems. The aim of this study was to estimate the spatial distribution, types, and characteristics of macro-, meso-, and microplastic fragments in shoreline sediments of a freshwater lake. Food wrappers (mainly polypropylene and polystyrene), bags (high- and low-density polyethylene), bottles (polyethylene terephthalate), and disposable Styrofoam food containers (expanded polystyrene) were the dominant macroplastics recorded in this study. Contrary to other studies, herein macroplastic item surveys would not serve as surrogates for microplastic items. This is disadvantageous since macroplastic surveys are relatively easier to conduct. Otherwise, an average of 25 mesoplastics (mainly expanded polystyrene) and 704 microplastic particles (diverse resins) were recorded per square meter in sandy sediments. Comparisons with other studies from freshwater and marine beaches indicated similar relevance of plastic contamination, demonstrating for the first time that plastic pollution is a serious problem in the Paraná floodplain lakes. This study is also valuable from a social/educational point of view, since plastic waste has been ignored in the Paraná catchment as a pollutant problem, and therefore, the outcome of the current study is a relevant contribution for decision makers.
塑料污染被联合国环境规划署视为一个重要的环境问题，并且它与气候变化一道，被认定为一个可能影响生物多样性和人类健康的新出现问题。然而，尽管有研究致力于调查海洋中的塑料，但相对较少的研究关注淡水系统。本研究的目的是估计一个淡水湖岸线沉积物中宏观、中观和微观塑料碎片的空间分布、类型及特征。食品包装（主要是聚丙烯和聚苯乙烯）、袋子（高密度和低密度聚乙烯）、瓶子（聚对苯二甲酸乙二酯）以及一次性泡沫塑料食品容器（发泡聚苯乙烯）是本研究中记录到的主要宏观塑料。与其他研究不同的是，在此宏观塑料物品调查不能作为微观塑料物品的替代。这是不利的，因为宏观塑料调查相对更容易进行。此外，在沙质沉积物中每平方米平均记录到25个中观塑料（主要是发泡聚苯乙烯）和704个微观塑料颗粒（多种树脂）。与来自淡水和海洋海滩的其他研究比较表明塑料污染具有相似的关联性，首次证明塑料污染在巴拉那河泛滥平原湖泊中是一个严重问题。从社会/教育角度来看，本研究也很有价值，因为在巴拉那河流域，塑料垃圾作为一个污染问题一直被忽视，因此，本研究结果对决策者有重要贡献。
