The bottom of the sea bears witness to this. overproduction of plastic on the planet since its consumption was democratized for the entire population. A study by Spanish scientists reveals that microplastics remain virtually intact over time when embedded in marine sediments. The bottom of the sea has unwittingly become the main stage of plasticization on Earth.. The researchers confirmed that microplastics from 1965 to 2016 were preserved with little degradation. They also discovered that this relic was found on the Catalan coast. Tripled since the 2000s compared to previous years.
These are the main results of a published study. Environmental Science and Technology, Studies carried out by the Autonomous University of Catalonia, Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA-UAB) and the Department of the Built Environment of Aalborg University (AAU-BUILD) in the depths of the Mediterranean. For this reason, on the oceanographic ship ‘Sarmiento de Gamboa’ of the Supreme Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), the researchers were able to scan the area between Tarragona and the Ebro delta to reconstruct the history of plastic consumption in this part of the planet.
This route was not chosen at random. Scientists were aware that the western part of the Mediterranean Sea, and more specifically the Ebro delta, could provide a clear picture of the damage this material is doing to the natural environment. And this The sedimentation rate in the Ebro delta is much higher than in the open sea.. It is not in vain that rivers are considered critical pollution points.
When the researchers examined the plastic sediments at the bottom of the Ebro delta, they were surprised to find that they had not completely deteriorated despite the years since they were deposited there. It is well known that it can take 100 to 1000 years for a plastic to degrade.
“The decomposition process mainly occurs in coastal sediments, on the sea surface or in the water column. Once accumulated, distortion is minimalThat’s why plastics from the 1960s get trapped on the seafloor and leave a signature of human pollution there,” says Patrizia Ziveri, ICREA professor at ICTA-UAB.
Three times more plastic since the 2000s
Thanks to this containment of the waste in question, the research group was able to determine “how it has increased as well as the accumulation of polyethylene and polypropylene particles from containers, bottles and food films” since the 1980s, but particularly in the last two decades. polyester from synthetic fibers in clothing fabrics,” as noted by Michael Grelaud, a researcher at ICTA-UAB. Special, Since the 2000s, three times more plastic has accumulated than in previous years.
A high concentration of these three materials has been found in Mediterranean seabeds. especially, 1.5 milligrams of microplastic per kilogram of sedimentis the most abundant polypropylene. In the eyes of scientists, these results show that despite intense awareness campaigns of the need to reduce single-use plastic, we are still a long way from achieving it.
Despite the efforts, plastic consumption continues to rise across the planet. An analysis carried out in 2020 by the European Union of Raw Materials and Plastics Manufacturers (PlasticsEurope) revealed that European efforts to reduce consumption before the outbreak of the epidemic had results for the region, but not for the region. region, other countries.
Although Europe consumed 61.8 million tons in 2018, it increased to 57.9 in 2019 and 55 in 2020, On the planet as a whole, 368 million tons were reached in 2019, which is 2.5% more than in 2018. The figure was fixed at 367 million tons in 2020.
Once in the sea, microplastics can cause drastic changes in ecosystems. Recent research has observed that: marine animals ingest these plastics, which causes gastrointestinal obstructions and changes in feeding and reproductive patterns. But it doesn’t end there: There is evidence that they are transmitted along the food chain and end up on our plates.
Reference work: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.2c04264
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