The degree of pollution of rivers with microplastics is alarming – according to 14 studies conducted by the Tara Foundation, which were published in the magazine “Environmental Science and Pollution Research”. The microplastic goes to the water, among others, by using plastic bottles and washing of synthetic fiber clothing.
Research was based on water samples from nine European rivers, from their mouth to the first large city on the river bank. The samples were analyzed by chemists, biologists and physicists from 19 research laboratories.
The tested water came from the Elbe and the Rhine – rivers flowing, among others by Germany, the Spanish River Ebro, French rivers – Garonna, Loire, Rhone and the Seine flowing through Paris, as well as the Thames in Great Britain and Tiber in Owners. “Pollution can be found in all European rivers-summed up Jean-François Ghiglione, ecotoxicological research manager at the French CNRS Research Institute.
“Smaller than a grain of rice”
“Mikroplastik molecules are smaller than the grain of rice,” explains the physicochemist from CNRS Alexandra Ter Halle. They are less than five millimeters, and the smallest are invisible to the naked eye. They get into the circulation of water through Washing clothes made of synthetic materials, abrasion of tires car on roadbut also through cosmetics or the use of plastics granules in industry.
According to measurements, total microplastic pollution in nine tested rivers is on average three molecules per cubic meter of water. This means that microplastic pollution in these rivers is much lower than in the ten most polluted rivers in the world, such as Mekong, Nil or Ganges, where the level of pollution is 40 microplastic particles per cubic meter.
However, if you take into account the flow rate, the range of pollution becomes clear-emphasizes Jean-François Ghiglione. For example, “in Valence in Rodan, the flow rate is 1,000 cubic meters per second”, which means “3,000 plastic particles per second”. In the Seine, this number is 900 particles per second.
Especially dangerous, two surprises
Scientists came across a surprising one during research result – The mass of microplasts is larger than the mass of visible microplastic particles. These microscopic molecules are particularly dangerous: while larger plastic molecules float on the surface of the water, smaller remain in the water, spread in all layers of the river and are absorbed by many animals and organisms.
According to the authors of the study, another unexpected discovery was that One quarter of the microplastic found in the French rivers was not wastebut plastic raw materials from industry.
Brussels wants changes
Plastic pollution is an increasingly burning problem. Negotiations on the first agreement UN aimed at reducing the amount of plastic waste has not yet been successful.
Currently, negotiations in the matter of EU regulations are underway in Brussels, which would allow companies to impose stricter regulations regarding the management of plastic microdrobines. According to projects, they should ensure that plastic granules from a specific size from production will not go to the natural environment. If this happens, companies are to pay for cleaning work. Another and probably the last round of negotiations between European Parliament And the EU Member States on the law are to take place on Tuesday, April 8.
(AFP/DOM)
The article comes from the website Deutsche Welle