Abstract
The present work was carried out to quantify microplastics (MP) from three sandy beaches along the Côte d’Opale coastline located in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. Three different study sites located along the English Channel were investigated due to different levels of anthropopression and hydrodynamic conditions. Sediments were collected at three different tide lines: high tide line (HTL), middle of the intertidal zone (IZ), and low tide line (LTL), to investigate the effects of tide line on microplastic contamination. Particles and fibers were counted and colors were recorded; polymer identification was then performed using pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS). Particle and fiber abundances ranged from 23.4 ± 18.9 to 69.3 ± 30.6 items kg−1 dry weight sediment, with a trend towards fiber predominance, were observed. No difference in particle and fiber abundance was found between the different beaches and tide lines, except for Boulogne-sur-Mer, where the particle number was significantly different between tide lines. Major polymers identified were polyethylene (36.6%) and polypropylene (10.7%). This citizen science project provided preliminary data about the abundance and polymeric nature of MP along the Côte d’Opale coastline.
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Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Denis Watier who coordinates the professional projects within the University Institute of Technology. We also thank Margaux Danzero for her images and Marie Deblieck, Marie-Ange Huchin, Melinda Verite, and Florence Viudes for their technical support.
Funding
Ludovic Hermabessiere, PhD, was funded by the Hauts-de-France region and ANSES (the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety). This work was funded by the French government and the Hauts-de-France Region in the framework of the CPER 2014-2020 MARCO project.
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Doyen, P., Hermabessiere, L., Dehaut, A. et al. Occurrence and identification of microplastics in beach sediments from the Hauts-de-France region. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26, 28010–28021 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-06027-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-06027-8