TY - JOUR
T1 - Microplastics in sediments from the littoral zone of the north Tunisian coast (Mediterranean Sea)
AU - Abidli, Sami
AU - Antunes, Joana Cepeda
AU - Ferreira, Joana L.
AU - Lahbib, Youssef
AU - Sobral, Paula
AU - Trigui El Menif, Najoua
N1 - Sem PDF conforme despacho.
The present study was partially funded by a scholarship attributed to Dr. Sami Abidli by the Laboratory of Environment Bio-monitoring (Faculty of Sciences of Bizerte) and is a result of a collaboration between the Faculty of Sciences of Bizerte (University of Carthage, Tunisia) and the Faculty of Sciences and Technology (University NOVA of Lisbon, Portugal). Finally, we acknowledge the Editor and the two anonymous reviewers for valuable comments and suggestions that greatly improved the manuscript.
PY - 2018/5/31
Y1 - 2018/5/31
N2 - The distribution of microplastics (MPs) was investigated in the sediments of five sampling sites from the northern Tunisian coast during June 2017. MPs were categorized according to type, colour and size. Representative MPs from the five sites were isolated for polymer identification using Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy in attenuated total reflectance mode (FTIR-ATR). Results showed that MPs were recovered, from all sediment samples, indicating for the first time, their extensive distribution in Tunisian coast. Concentrations varied from 141.20 ± 25.98 to 461.25 ± 29.74 items kg−1 dry weight. Fibres, fragments, Styrofoam®, pellets and films were the types registered in this study. With the exception of Menzel Bourguiba (MB), fibres significantly outnumbered plastic particles followed by fragments, Styrofoam®, films and pellets. The predominant colours are as follows: black > clear > white > red > blue > green for fibres, blue > white > clear > red > green > yellow > black for fragments, blue > white > black > clear for films while only white pellets and Styrofoam® were found. MPs particles ranged from 0.1 to 5 mm in length. A total of three polymer types were identified, polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP) and polystyrene (PS). Except for industrial pellets, the presence of MPs is likely due to the degradation of marine plastic debris accumulating in each site. This work provides original data of the presence of MPs in coastal sediments from Northern Tunisian coast.
AB - The distribution of microplastics (MPs) was investigated in the sediments of five sampling sites from the northern Tunisian coast during June 2017. MPs were categorized according to type, colour and size. Representative MPs from the five sites were isolated for polymer identification using Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy in attenuated total reflectance mode (FTIR-ATR). Results showed that MPs were recovered, from all sediment samples, indicating for the first time, their extensive distribution in Tunisian coast. Concentrations varied from 141.20 ± 25.98 to 461.25 ± 29.74 items kg−1 dry weight. Fibres, fragments, Styrofoam®, pellets and films were the types registered in this study. With the exception of Menzel Bourguiba (MB), fibres significantly outnumbered plastic particles followed by fragments, Styrofoam®, films and pellets. The predominant colours are as follows: black > clear > white > red > blue > green for fibres, blue > white > clear > red > green > yellow > black for fragments, blue > white > black > clear for films while only white pellets and Styrofoam® were found. MPs particles ranged from 0.1 to 5 mm in length. A total of three polymer types were identified, polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP) and polystyrene (PS). Except for industrial pellets, the presence of MPs is likely due to the degradation of marine plastic debris accumulating in each site. This work provides original data of the presence of MPs in coastal sediments from Northern Tunisian coast.
KW - FTIR-ATR
KW - Microplastics
KW - Northern Tunisia
KW - Sediment
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85043400916&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ecss.2018.03.006
DO - 10.1016/j.ecss.2018.03.006
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85043400916
SN - 0272-7714
VL - 205
SP - 1
EP - 9
JO - Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science
JF - Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science
ER -