Abstract : Massive accumulation of plastic particles has been reported for marine ecosystems around the world,
posing a risk to the biota. Freshwater ecosystems have received less attention despite the majority of
plastic litter being produced onshore and introduced into marine environments by rivers. Some
studies report not only the presence of microplastics in freshwater ecosystems, but show that
contamination is as severe as in the oceans. In continental waters microplastics have been observed
in both sediments (predominantly lakeshores but also riverbanks) and water samples (predominantly
surface water of lakes and rivers). This review highlights recent findings and discusses open
questions, focusing on the methodology of assessing this contaminant in freshwater ecosystems. In
this context, method harmonization is needed in order to obtain comparable data from different
environmental compartments and sites. This includes sampling strategies (at spatial and temporal
18 scales), sample treatment (taking into consideration high levels of organic matter and suspended
19 solids) and reliable analytical methods to identify microplastics.
https://hal-enpc.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01136690
Contributeur : Bruno Tassin <>
Soumis le : vendredi 27 mars 2015 - 19:20:40 Dernière modification le : dimanche 1 novembre 2020 - 18:52:11 Archivage à long terme le : : jeudi 2 juillet 2015 - 08:50:16
Rachid Dris, Hannes Imhof, Wilfried Sanchez, Johnny Gasperi, François Galgani, et al.. Beyond the ocean: Contamination of freshwater ecosystems with (micro-) plastic particles. Environmental Chemistry, CSIRO Publishing, 2015, pp.32. ⟨10.1071/EN14172⟩. ⟨hal-01136690⟩