Comparison of macrolitter and meso- and microplastic pollution on French riverbanks and coastal beaches using citizen science with schoolchildren - Sorbonne Université
Journal Articles Environmental Science and Pollution Research Year : 2024

Comparison of macrolitter and meso- and microplastic pollution on French riverbanks and coastal beaches using citizen science with schoolchildren

Abstract

Rivers are the major source of anthropogenic litter entering the ocean, especially plastic debris that accumulates in all ecosystems around the world and poses a risk to the biota.

Reliable data on distribution, abundance and types of stranded plastics are needed, especially on riverbanks that have received less attention than coastal beaches. Here, we present the citizen science initiative Plastique à la loupe (Plastic under the magnifier), that compares for the first time the distribution of different litter sizes (macrolitter, meso-and microplastics) over 81 riverbanks and 66 coastal beaches sampled in France between 2019 and 2021. A total of 147 school classes (3,113 schoolchildren) from middle to high school collected, sorted and enumerated 55,986 pieces of plastic to provide a baseline of the current pollution by stranded debris at the national level. Single-use plastics (mainly food-related items) were very abundant on riverbanks (43 %), whereas fragmented debris dominated the macrolitter on coastal beaches (28 %). Microplastics were always higher in number compared to mesoplastics and macrolitter, with polystyrene and polyethylene found in equivalent proportions on riverbanks while polyethylene dominated microplastics on coastal beaches.

Tracing the source of plastic items was possible only for a small proportion of the numerous collected items, mainly for identifiable macrolitter and microplastic pellets. This study lays out the foundations for further works using the Plastique à la loupe citizen science initiative in France and additional comparisons to other studied habitats worldwide, which can be used by scientists and policy-makers for future litter monitoring, prevention and clean-up strategies.

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Dates and versions

hal-04806450 , version 1 (27-11-2024)

Identifiers

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Léna Philip, Maëla Le Picard, Edouard Lavergne, Pascaline Bourgain, Brigitte Sabard, et al.. Comparison of macrolitter and meso- and microplastic pollution on French riverbanks and coastal beaches using citizen science with schoolchildren. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 2024, Online ahead of print. ⟨10.1007/s11356-024-35506-w⟩. ⟨hal-04806450⟩
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