El proyecto Mares Circulares es un ambicioso proyecto que tuvo su inicio en 2018 gracias al apoyo de The Coca Cola
Foundation (Atlanta) y Coca Cola Europacific Partners Iberia y el trabajo de Asociación Chelonia, Fundación Ecomar, Liga
para a Protecção da Natureza y Asociación Vertidos Cero, junto a más de 600 entidades públicas y privadas colaborando en
los distintos escenarios costeros. Asociación Vertidos Cero coordina las acciones relacionadas con la retirada de basuras
marinas por el sector pesquero. Para ello cuenta con la ayuda de Asociación Paisaje Limpio, Asociación Hombre y
Territorio, Observatorio do Mar dos Açores y Cruz Roja de las Islas Baleares, que, junto con las cofradías, asociaciones de
pescadores y lonjas en diecisiete puertos de España y Portugal, extraen las basuras marinas de difícil acceso,
principalmente del fondo marino y flotantes.
Proyecto Mares circulares
13 Nov. 2022
Durante 2022, más de 500 pescadores voluntarios trabajaron para recuperar los residuos plásticos de los fondos marinos
que quedaban atrapados en sus redes. Gracias a una tecnología puntera, se han podido fabricar bancos, de plástico 100%
reciclado, que contienen entre un 30-50% de plástico no PET (bolsas y redes principalmente), recolectado por los
pescadores de los más de cien barcos que participan desinteresadamente en el proyecto. Los barcos depositan en el puerto
la basura marina, Vertidos Cero separa y caracteriza los residuos con la aplcacaión MARNOBA y envía los plásticos no-PET a
AIMPLAS (Instituto Tecnológico del Plástico) para que realice las pruebas y ensayos que permitan llegar a un contenido entre
el 30-50% de plástico marino en la composición del banco. Finalmente Plàstic Preciós La Safor ha diseñado el banco y
produce las unidades que se situarán en los quince puertos colaboradores de Mares Circulares.
Un proyecto en red: Mares Circulares es un proyecto en red en el que participa la Asociación Vertidos Cero que se lanzo en 2018
con un triple objetivo: limpiar costas, espacios protegidos y fondos marinos de España y Portugal, fomentar el reciclaje e impulsar la
economía circular. Con este proyecto se pretende limpiar nuestros entornos acuáticos sin dejar de lado la importancia de
concienciar sobre el reciclaje. El proyecto apoya estudios e iniciativas que buscan soluciones para reducir la contaminación marina.
Determining the risks of microplastics is difficult because data is of variable quality and cannot be compared. Although
sediments are important sinks for microplastics, no holistic risk assessment framework is available for this compartment.
Here we assess the risks of microplastics in freshwater sediments worldwide, using strict quality criteria and alignment
methods. Published exposure data were screened for quality using new criteria for microplastics in sediment and were
rescaled to the standard 1–5000 µm microplastic size range. Threshold effect data were also screened for quality and were
aligned to account for the polydispersity of environmental microplastics and for their bioaccessible fraction. Risks were
characterized for effects triggered by food dilution or translocation, using ingested particle volume and surface area as
ecologically relevant metrics, respectively.
Risk assessment of microplastics in freshwater sediments
06 Nov. 2022
For all locations considered, exposure concentrations were either below or in the margin of uncertainty of hazardous
concentrations for 5% of the species. We could conclude that risks from microplastics to benthic communities cannot be
excluded at current concentrations in sediments worldwide.
Statement Pollution with microplastics is a pressing environmental and social problem, with adverse effects on aquatic ecosystems
noted worldwide. Here we introduce a holistic risk assessment framework for freshwater sediment, a compartment for which no
framework was yet available. We provide a new tool to assess the quality of exposure data from the literature, as well as new
methods to resolve the mismatch between exposure and laboratory effect data. We show that risks from microplastics to benthic
communities cannot be excluded in some locations. This work has been published in Journal journal of Hazardous Materials as Risk
assessment of microplastics in freshwater sediments guided by strict quality criteria and data alignment methods
Microplastics appear in agricultural soils due to the massive amount of plastic used in conventional farming, for example,
plastic film mulching, packaging, plastic films for greenhouse shedding, water pipes, fertilizers coatings, and substrate
aeration-improving materials which eventually degrade on the field and transform into small fragments. However, the
largest contribution comes from the application of sewage sludge as fertilizer. Besides, irrigation water, particularly when
using recycled wastewater can be a significant contribution to plastic pollution in agricultural soils.
Recycled wastewater as a potential source of microplastics in irrigated soils from
an arid-insular territory
15 Apr. 2022
In this work, the occurrence of microplastics (MPs) in irrigation recycled wastewaters and a desalinated brackish water from
the arid territory of Fuerteventura (Canary Islands, Spain) was studied. Besides, the presence of MPs in two types of soils
(sandy-loam and clay-loamy; with no mulch film or fertilization with sewage sludge applied) irrigated with both water
qualities was addressed. The results showed the prevalence presence of cellulosic and polyester microfibers (between 84.4
and 100%) in water samples ranging from 2.0 ± 2.0 items/L up to 40.0 ± 19.0 items/L. The concentration of microplastics in
the soil top layer (0–5 cm) was three times higher in soil irrigated with recycled wastewater compared to irrigation with
desalinated brackish water (159 ± 338 vs. 46 ± 92 items/kg, respectively).
Take home message: The results show that recycled wastewater constitute a potential source of microplastics in irrigated soils that
should be considered among other pros and cons linked to the use of this water quality in agricultural arid lands. The work has been
published in the journal Science of the Total Environment as Recycled wastewater as a potential source of microplastics in irrigated
soils from an arid-insular territory (Fuerteventura, Spain).
Alegranza es la isla más septentrional del archipiélago canario y, por lo tanto, el primer obstáculo con el que se encuentra
la Corriente de Canarias, que deposita todos los residuos en la costa de orientación noreste. Además, al ser una isla
deshabitada, todos los residuos son procedentes del mar, lo que la convierte en un observatorio privilegiado para estudiar
las basuras marinas. En la realización de este inventario han colaborado las investigadoras del grupo de Ecofisiología de
los Organismos Marinos (EOMAR) de la Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Alicia Herrera, Ico Martínez y May
Gómez; junto a Alexis Rivera de WWF España y Teresa Moreno del Instituto de Formación Profesional Marítimo Pesquero
de Canarias.
Investigadores del grupo EOMAR participan en el primer inventario y clasificación
de basuras marinas de Alegranza
1 Apr. 2022
A lo largo de un total de seis expediciones lideradas por el grupo EOMAR del IU-ECOAQUA, se retiraron 3667 objetos con un
peso total de 321 kilogramos, de los que el 97.7% eran plásticos, siendo los más abundantes las botellas PET de bebidas
(960 ejemplares, casi una cuarta parte de los plásticos recolectados). En España se utilizan unos 9 millones de botellas de
agua diariamente, una gran parte termina en vertederos y muchas llegan al mar arrastradas por el viento o a través de los
ríos.
La actividad pesquera y el tráfico marítimo también fueron una fuente importante de desechos marinos (20.2%). En algunos
casos las etiquetas legibles proporcionaron información acerca de su procedencia y en dos tercios de los casos el lugar de
fabricación fdueron países asiáticos y su origen se atribuye al tráfico marítimo internacional en la zona.
Un caso curioso son las etiquetas de licencia de las trampas de langostas de la costa este de Estados Unidos y Canadá,
fechadas entre 1999 y 2018, lo que evidencia que recorren que pueden llevar décadas flotando en el océano.
Publicación científica: Los resultados se han publicado en el artículo First inventory of marine debris on Alegranza, an uninhabited
island in the Northeast Atlantic, publicado en la revista científica Marine Pollution Bulletin. La información obtenida debe contribuir
a la identificación de las fuentes de residuos marinos más frecuentes en los mares y que, por tanto, deberían ser regulados por las
leyes medioambientales.
Plastic debris enter the environment through different ways. Atmospheric dissemination has recently received attention as
small airborne debris, mainly consisting of synthetic fibres, may travel long distances from their source. The role of
wastewater treatment plants is also well-known. Domestic and industrial wastewaters contain a large number of fibres,
microplastics used in personal care products, tyre wear debris and other plastic particles and fibres incompletely removed
in treatment plants. The typical removal efficiency of current wastewater treatment process is over 90 % meaning that
most MPs contained in raw wastewater accumulate in sludge. In fact, the use of wastewater sludge as soil amendment
could be a contributor to the dissemination of micropalstics into soil, and from it to other environmental compartments.
Besides, agricultural practices like mulching may result in involuntary dissemination of plastic debris to the environment.
The information available on the sources, fate and effects of MPs in soil are scarce due to the reduced number of studies
accomplished so far and because of the lack of acute effects on biota. Besides, MPs release dangerous additives, sorb
other pollutants and their fragmentation is known to produce smaller and more concerning fragments including
nanoplastics.
Microplastics in the composted organic fraction of municipal solid waste
20 Mar. 2022
In this work, we selected and studied five composting facilities from which we took monthly samples over a five-month
period. The results showed a concentration of plastic impurities in the 10-30 particles/g of dry compost range, dominated by
smaller sizes. Microplastics were found in concentrations in the 5–20 items/g of dry weight in the composted organic
fraction. Our results showed that smaller plants, with door-to-door collection produce compost with less plastic of all sizes.
However, even following selective door-to-door collection, domestic wastes still contain a considerable amount of plastic
debris. Our study suggests that changes are needed in the current patterns of plastic use to further reduce plastic
impurities in compost from domestic biowastes.
What we learnt: The presence of plastic debris in compost obtained from OFMSW was studied by analysing samples of final
compost taken over a five-month period from five different composting facilities representative of different collection systems, rates
of impurities, and technology. From our study we concluded that: (1) The total concentration of plastic particles was in the 10-30
items/g of DW range; (2) The concentration of MPs was in the 5-20 items/g of DW; (3) Fibres were predominant and were mostly in
the lower size range (25 % < 500 µm); (4) The plastic materials found were polyethylene, polystyrene, polyester, polypropylene,
polyvinyl chloride, and acrylic polymers in that order of abundance; (5) Smaller plants, with door-to-door collection schemes
produced compost with less plastic impurities; and (6) Compostable bioplastics are completely absent from compost even if there
was evidence that they arrived to the composing plants at least as biodegradable plastic bags.
Un proyecto en red: Mares Circulares es un proyecto en red
en el que participa la Asociación Vertidos Cero que se lanzo
en 2018 con un triple objetivo: limpiar costas, espacios
protegidos y fondos marinos de España y Portugal, fomentar
el reciclaje e impulsar la economía circular. Con este
proyecto se pretende limpiar nuestros entornos acuáticos
sin dejar de lado la importancia de concienciar sobre el
reciclaje. El proyecto apoya estudios e iniciativas que buscan
soluciones para reducir la contaminación marina
El proyecto Mares Circulares es un ambicioso proyecto que tuvo
su inicio en 2018 gracias al apoyo de The Coca Cola Foundation
(Atlanta) y Coca Cola Europacific Partners Iberia y el trabajo de
Asociación Chelonia, Fundación Ecomar, Liga para a Protecção da
Natureza y Asociación Vertidos Cero, junto a más de 600
entidades públicas y privadas colaborando en los distintos
escenarios costeros. Asociación Vertidos Cero coordina las
acciones relacionadas con la retirada de basuras marinas por el
sector pesquero. Para ello cuenta con la ayuda de Asociación
Paisaje Limpio, Asociación Hombre y Territorio, Observatorio do
Mar dos Açores y Cruz Roja de las Islas Baleares, que, junto con las
cofradías, asociaciones de pescadores y lonjas en diecisiete
puertos de España y Portugal, extraen las basuras marinas de
difícil acceso, principalmente del fondo marino y flotantes.
Proyecto Mares circulares
13 Nov. 2022
Durante 2022, más de 500 pescadores voluntarios trabajaron para
recuperar los residuos plásticos de los fondos marinos que
quedaban atrapados en sus redes. Gracias a una tecnología
puntera, se han podido fabricar bancos, de plástico 100%
reciclado, que contienen entre un 30-50% de plástico no PET
(bolsas y redes principalmente), recolectado por los pescadores de
los más de cien barcos que participan desinteresadamente en el
proyecto. Los barcos depositan en el puerto la basura marina,
Vertidos Cero separa y caracteriza los residuos con la aplcacaión
MARNOBA y envía los plásticos no-PET a AIMPLAS (Instituto
Tecnológico del Plástico) para que realice las pruebas y ensayos
que permitan llegar a un contenido entre el 30-50% de plástico
marino en la composición del banco. Finalmente Plàstic Preciós La
Safor ha diseñado el banco y produce las unidades que se situarán
en los quince puertos colaboradores de Mares Circulares.
Determining the risks of microplastics is difficult because data is of
variable quality and cannot be compared. Although sediments are
important sinks for microplastics, no holistic risk assessment
framework is available for this compartment. Here we assess the
risks of microplastics in freshwater sediments worldwide, using
strict quality criteria and alignment methods. Published exposure
data were screened for quality using new criteria for microplastics
in sediment and were rescaled to the standard 1–5000 µm
microplastic size range. Threshold effect data were also screened
for quality and were aligned to account for the polydispersity of
environmental microplastics and for their bioaccessible fraction.
Risks were characterized for effects triggered by food dilution or
translocation, using ingested particle volume and surface area as
ecologically relevant metrics, respectively.
Risk assessment of microplastics in freshwater
sediments
06 Nov. 2022
For all locations considered, exposure concentrations were either
below or in the margin of uncertainty of hazardous concentrations
for 5% of the species. We could conclude that risks from
microplastics to benthic communities cannot be excluded at
current concentrations in sediments worldwide.
Microplastics appear in agricultural soils due to the massive
amount of plastic used in conventional farming, for example,
plastic film mulching, packaging, plastic films for greenhouse
shedding, water pipes, fertilizers coatings, and substrate aeration-
improving materials which eventually degrade on the field and
transform into small fragments. However, the largest contribution
comes from the application of sewage sludge as fertilizer. Besides,
irrigation water, particularly when using recycled wastewater can
be a significant contribution to plastic pollution in agricultural
soils.
Recycled wastewater as a potential source of
microplastics in irrigated soils from an arid-insular
territory
15 Apr. 2022
In this work, the occurrence of microplastics (MPs) in irrigation
recycled wastewaters and a desalinated brackish water from the
arid territory of Fuerteventura (Canary Islands, Spain) was studied.
Besides, the presence of MPs in two types of soils (sandy-loam and
clay-loamy; with no mulch film or fertilization with sewage sludge
applied) irrigated with both water qualities was addressed. The
results showed the prevalence presence of cellulosic and polyester
microfibers (between 84.4 and 100%) in water samples ranging
from 2.0 ± 2.0 items/L up to 40.0 ± 19.0 items/L. The concentration
of microplastics in the soil top layer (0–5 cm) was three times
higher in soil irrigated with recycled wastewater compared to
irrigation with desalinated brackish water (159 ± 338 vs. 46 ± 92
items/kg, respectively).
Take home message: The results show that recycled
wastewater constitute a potential source of microplastics in
irrigated soils that should be considered among other pros and
cons linked to the use of this water quality in agricultural arid
lands. The work has been published in the journal Science of
the Total Environment as Recycled wastewater as a potential
source of microplastics in irrigated soils from an arid-insular
territory (Fuerteventura, Spain).
Alegranza es la isla más septentrional del archipiélago canario y,
por lo tanto, el primer obstáculo con el que se encuentra la
Corriente de Canarias, que deposita todos los residuos en la costa
de orientación noreste. Además, al ser una isla deshabitada, todos
los residuos son procedentes del mar, lo que la convierte en un
observatorio privilegiado para estudiar las basuras marinas. En la
realización de este inventario han colaborado las investigadoras
del grupo de Ecofisiología de los Organismos Marinos (EOMAR) de
la Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Alicia Herrera, Ico
Martínez y May Gómez; junto a Alexis Rivera de WWF España y
Teresa Moreno del Instituto de Formación Profesional Marítimo
Pesquero de Canarias.
Investigadores del grupo EOMAR participan en el
primer inventario y clasificación de basuras
marinas de Alegranza
1 Apr. 2022
A lo largo de un total de seis expediciones lideradas por el grupo
EOMAR del IU-ECOAQUA, se retiraron 3667 objetos con un peso
total de 321 kilogramos, de los que el 97.7% eran plásticos, siendo
los más abundantes las botellas PET de bebidas (960 ejemplares,
casi una cuarta parte de los plásticos recolectados). En España se
utilizan unos 9 millones de botellas de agua diariamente, una gran
parte termina en vertederos y muchas llegan al mar arrastradas
por el viento o a través de los ríos.
La actividad pesquera y el tráfico marítimo también fueron una
fuente importante de desechos marinos (20.2%). En algunos casos
las etiquetas legibles proporcionaron información acerca de su
procedencia y en dos tercios de los casos el lugar de fabricación
fdueron países asiáticos y su origen se atribuye al tráfico marítimo
internacional en la zona.
Un caso curioso son las etiquetas de licencia de las trampas de
langostas de la costa este de Estados Unidos y Canadá, fechadas
entre 1999 y 2018, lo que evidencia que recorren que pueden
llevar décadas flotando en el océano.
Publicación científica: Los resultados se han publicado en el
artículo First inventory of marine debris on Alegranza, an
uninhabited island in the Northeast Atlantic, publicado en la
revista científica Marine Pollution Bulletin. La información
obtenida debe contribuir a la identificación de las fuentes de
residuos marinos más frecuentes en los mares y que, por
tanto, deberían ser regulados por las leyes medioambientales.
Plastic debris enter the environment through different ways.
Atmospheric dissemination has recently received attention as
small airborne debris, mainly consisting of synthetic fibres, may
travel long distances from their source. The role of wastewater
treatment plants is also well-known. Domestic and industrial
wastewaters contain a large number of fibres, microplastics used
in personal care products, tyre wear debris and other plastic
particles and fibres incompletely removed in treatment plants. The
typical removal efficiency of current wastewater treatment process
is over 90 % meaning that most MPs contained in raw wastewater
accumulate in sludge. In fact, the use of wastewater sludge as soil
amendment could be a contributor to the dissemination of
micropalstics into soil, and from it to other environmental
compartments. Besides, agricultural practices like mulching may
result in involuntary dissemination of plastic debris to the
environment. The information available on the sources, fate and
effects of MPs in soil are scarce due to the reduced number of
studies accomplished so far and because of the lack of acute
effects on biota. Besides, MPs release dangerous additives, sorb
other pollutants and their fragmentation is known to produce
smaller and more concerning fragments including nanoplastics.
Microplastics in the composted organic fraction of
municipal solid waste
20 Mar. 2022
In this work, we selected and studied five composting facilities
from which we took monthly samples over a five-month period.
The results showed a concentration of plastic impurities in the 10-
30 particles/g of dry compost range, dominated by smaller sizes.
Microplastics were found in concentrations in the 5–20 items/g of
dry weight in the composted organic fraction. Our results showed
that smaller plants, with door-to-door collection produce compost
with less plastic of all sizes. However, even following selective door-
to-door collection, domestic wastes still contain a considerable
amount of plastic debris. Our study suggests that changes are
needed in the current patterns of plastic use to further reduce
plastic impurities in compost from domestic biowastes.
What we learnt: The presence of plastic debris in compost
obtained from OFMSW was studied by analysing samples of
final compost taken over a five-month period from five
different composting facilities representative of different
collection systems, rates of impurities, and technology. From
our study we concluded that: (1) The total concentration of
plastic particles was in the 10-30 items/g of DW range; (2) The
concentration of MPs was in the 5-20 items/g of DW; (3) Fibres
were predominant and were mostly in the lower size range (25
% < 500 µm); (4) The plastic materials found were polyethylene,
polystyrene, polyester, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, and
acrylic polymers in that order of abundance; (5) Smaller plants,
with door-to-door collection schemes produced compost with
less plastic impurities; and (6) Compostable bioplastics are
completely absent from compost even if there was evidence
that they arrived to the composing plants at least as
biodegradable plastic bags.
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Statement Pollution with microplastics is a pressing
environmental and social problem, with adverse effects on
aquatic ecosystems noted worldwide. Here we introduce a
holistic risk assessment framework for freshwater sediment, a
compartment for which no framework was yet available. We
provide a new tool to assess the quality of exposure data from
the literature, as well as new methods to resolve the mismatch
between exposure and laboratory effect data. We show that
risks from microplastics to benthic communities cannot be
excluded in some locations. This work has been published in
Journal journal of Hazardous Materials as Risk assessment of
microplastics in freshwater sediments guided by strict quality
criteria and data alignment methods
