Floating Marine Litter in Eastern Mediterranean From Macro to Microplastics: The Lebanese Coastal Area as a Case Study
| Autor: | Abed El Rahman Hassoun, Rachid Amara, Sharif Jemaa, Myriam Ghsoub, Milad Fakhri, Maria Kazour, Céline Mahfouz, Gaby Khalaf, Myriam Lteif |
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| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
Pollution
Microplastics microplastics 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences media_common.quotation_subject eastern mediterranean 010501 environmental sciences 01 natural sciences pollution load index Marine debris medicine GE1-350 0105 earth and related environmental sciences General Environmental Science media_common seasonal variation Baseline (sea) macroplastics Seasonality medicine.disease Fishery Environmental sciences Eastern mediterranean lebanon Litter Environmental science Plastic pollution |
| Zdroj: | Frontiers in Environmental Science, Vol 9 (2021) |
| DOI: | 10.3389/fenvs.2021.699343/full |
| Popis: | Despite emerging and increasing concerns related to marine micro and macroplastics, no systematic surveys have been undertaken yet in the Lebanese marine area. To understand the spatio-temporal variation of plastic litter (macro and microplastics) in the Lebanese marine environment and to determine the sources of pollution, this study investigated the characteristics of plastic pollution in sea surface waters during wet and dry seasons in 22 sites of Beirut and Tyre regions. A total of 23,023 items were identified and assessed according to the shape, color, and concentration; moreover, the risk of microplastics (MPs) contamination was explored based on a risk assessment model. The obtained results demonstrated that the average macroplastics concentration was 0.45 ± 0.6 items/m3. The average microplastics concentration was found to be 20.1 ± 21.8 and 3.78 ± 5.2 items/m3 in spring and fall respectively. During fall, MPs fragments were dominant in Beirut (97%) and Tyre (91%), and no pellets were observed. During spring, filaments were most encountered in Beirut (76.5%). The most dominant marine litter color was blue followed by black and white. The Pollution Load Index (PLI) values showed a moderate contamination of the Lebanese coast with MPs (PLI: 5.79 ± 3.93) except for several sites in Beirut that showed high values of PLI, highlighting the local influence of cities and rivers on MPs concentration. This study serves as an important baseline for understanding the characteristics of the seasonal variation of MPs along the Lebanese marine environment; it will help stakeholders and countries to take proactive and reactive actions to face plastic litter pollution in the Lebanese coastal area. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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